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LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 
UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE 


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LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 
UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE 


t^g&r4 


BY 

ANNA  L.  BICKNELL 

AN  INMATE  OF  THE  PALACE 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 
1895 

J I 


nght,  1894,  1895,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


THE   DEVINNE   PBESS. 


CONTEXTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  palace  of  the  Tuileries  under  previous  sovereigns  — 
Proclamation  of  the  Second  Empire  —  The  Comte  de  Tas- 
eher  de  la  Pagerie  —  Napoleon  I.  and  Josephine  —  Ball 
given  by  Prince  Schwarzenberg  on  the  marriage  of  Napo- 
leon I.  with  Marie-Louise  —  Tragic  fate  of  the  Princess  von 
der  Leyen  —  Her  daughter  married  to  the  Comte  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie  —  Exile  after  the  fall  of  the  First  Empire  — 
Prince  Eugene  de  Beauharuais  —  Queen  Hortense  —  Na- 
poleon III.  in  his  youth  —  His  friendship  for  the  Comte  de 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  —  When  President  of  the  French 
Republic  he  summons  the  Comte  and  his  son  to  the  Elysee 
—  Their  opposition  to  his  marriage  with  Eugenie  de  Mon- 
tijo  overruled  —  Court  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 1 


CHAPTER  II 

My  position  at  the  Tuileries  —  The  family  de  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie  —  First  opportunities  of  seeing  the  Empress  —  Her 
wonderful  beauty  —  The  color  of  her  hair  —  An  evening 
with  the  Empress  in  her  private  circle  —  Unseasonable  in- 
terruption —  Etiquette  and  its  annoyances  —  Court  obliga- 
tions —  Gilded  chains 13 


CHAPTER  III 

Regulations  of  the  palace  —  The  detectives  —  Inconveniences 
of  the  palace  —  The  painting-room  of  Mademoiselle  Hor- 
tense de  Tascher  -Pasini,  the  artist  —  Apartments  of  the 
Empress  —  View  on  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries  —  What  it 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

was  then  —  Description  of  the  various  rooms  —  Audiences 
granted  by  the  Empress  —  High  mass  on  Sundays  —  The 
Emperor's  demeanor  —  The  sermon  —  Etiquette  —  The 
wardrobe  regions  above  the  apartments  of  the  Empress  — 
'•  Pepa,"the  Empress's  Spanish  maid  —  The  jailer's  daugh- 
ters —  Anecdote  of  the  Emperor  —  The  privy-purse  of  the 
Empress 29 

CHAPTER  IV 

Daily  life  of  the  Court  —  Duties  of  the  ladies  in  waiting 
Charities  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress— The  Prince 
Imperial  — Drives  of  the  Empress  —  A  rheumatic  chamber- 
lain -  The  evenings  at  the  court  —  Dinner  —  The  "  service 
d'honneur  "  —  Etiquette  —  Habitual  simplicity  of  the  Em- 
press in  her  morning-dress  —  Her  usual  evening  toilet  — 
The  mechanical  piano  —  Sudden  wish  of  the  Empress  to 
dance  the  *'  Lancers"  —  Mademoiselle  de  Tascher  sum- 
moned to  teach  the  figures  —  Difficulties  caused  by  petty 
court  jealousies  —  Late  hours  of  the  Empress  —  Anecdote 
of  the  Emperor  —  His  amiable  disposition  in  private  life  — 
Impulsive  nature  of  the  Empress 42 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Emperor's  drives  —  His  opinion  of  mankind  in  general 
—  The  special  police  attached  to  the  Emperor's  person  — 
Alessandri,  the  detective  —  The  Orsini  attempt  on  the  Em- 
peror's life  —  Impression  at  the  Tuileries  —  The  return  of 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  —  Letter  from  the  Marquis  of 
"Waterford  —  My  life  at  the  Tuileries  —  Games  of  chess  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Bourges  —  Costume  balls  —  Banquet  on 
tin-  marriage  of  Prince  Napoleon  with  the  Princess  Clotilde 
of  Savoy  -The  ball  —  A  waltz  of  the  Emperor  with  the 
Princess  rendered  impossible  —  Costume  of  the  Empress  . .     52 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Palais-Royal  —  The  imperial  family  — Unpleasant  rela- 
tion- -Prince  Jerome  —  Prince  Napoleon  —  Princess  Ma- 
thilde  —  Pierre    Bonaparte  — His    sister    Letitia  —  Prince 


CONTEXTS  vii 

PAGE 

Napoleon's  speech  in  the  Senate  —  Scene  with  the  Emperor 

—  Ball  at  the  Hotel  d'Albe  —  The  Empress  and  the  page  — 
Special  invitation  sent  to  me  by  the  Empress  —  Princess 
Mathilde  and  Princess  Clotilde  —  Contrast — The  dresses 
of  both  —  Intended  costume  of  the  Empress  —  Objections  — 
The  Empress  and  the  paste-board  horse  —  The  Due  de 
Moray  —  His  character  — ■  His  marriage  —  Madame  de 
Moray  — "The  White  Mouse"  — Scene  with  the  Due  de 
Dino  —  Comte  Walewski  —  His  chai'acter  and  appearance 

—  Comtesse  Walewska 62 

CHAPTER  VII 

Princess  Clotilde  —  Her  religious  fervor  —  Her  daily  life  — 
Her  court  —  Evenings  at  the  Palais-Royal  —  Ennui  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie  —  The  camp  at  Chalons  —  Enmity  of  the 
aristocratic  Faubourg  St.  Germain  — ■  Persistent  criticisms ; 
irritation  of  the  Empress  — ■  The  Comte  de  Chambord  and 
the  Comtesse  de  Tascher  —  The  great  official  balls  at  the 
Tuileries  —  The  "Centgardes" —  The  soldier  with  sugar- 
plums in  his  boot  —  The  Empress  and  the  sentinel  —  A 
wager  —  Etiquette  of  the  balls  —  The  balcony  of  the  "  Salle 
des  Marechaux" —  Clever  answer  of  Mademoiselle  de  Mon- 
tijo  —  Costume  balls  —  The  police  —  The  fancy  quadrilles  — 
Taglioni 78 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The  police  force  during  the  Empire  —  Story  of  M.  de  Saint- 
Julien  —  A  robbery  —  A  fascinating  detective  —  A  mysteri- 
ous sign  —  Dinner  parties  at  the  palace  —  The  imperial 
table  during  Lent  and  on  Fridays  —  Lent  concerts  —  Auber 

—  Mario  —  Patti  —  Alboni  —  The  national  tune  composed 
by  Queen  Hortense  —  The  Emperor's  dislike  of  music  —  The 
mechanical  piano  —  The  "  Stabat  Mater  "  performed  in  the 
chapel  —  The  supposed  excessive  devotion  of  the  Empress .     89 

CHAPTER  IX 

"  The  Empress's  Mondays"  —  Orders  worn  by  ladies  —  The 
court  train  —  The  "  Salut  du  Trone,"  or  grand  court  obei- 
sance —  The  inclosed  garden  at  the  Tuileries  —  "  Bagatelle  " 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

—  The  court  leaves  Paris  —  Fontainebleau  —  "La  Regie" 

—  Inconvenience  of  living  in  a  palace  —  Housewifely  care 
of  the  Empress  —  A  siege  in  the  apartments  —  A  prince  left 
at  the  door  —  St.  Cloud  —  Villeueuve  TEtang  —  Furniture 
embroidered  by  Josephine  —A  collation  with  the  Prince 
Imperial  —  Anecdotes  —  A  k'  Te  Deum  "  wanted 98 

CHAPTER  X 

The  givat   review  —  Canrobert —  MacMahon —  The  Zouaves 
-The  flag   with  the  ribbon  and  cross  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  —  Violent    rush  of   the    crowd  —  I  owe  my  life  to 
Robert  de  Tascher  —  Court  starvation  on  gala  days Ill 

CHAPTER  XI 

Paris  in  the  early  days  of  the  Second  Empire  —  Diplomatic 
changes  after  the  Italian  war  —  A  great  name  —  A  young 
ambassadress  —  Eccentricities  of  the  Princess  Metternich  — 
Her  imprudence  and  morbid  curiosity  —  Anecdotes  —  A 
"  real "  Empress  —  Practical  joke  on  a  lady  in  waiting  — 
Dispute  with  Madame  de  Persigny  —  Why  the  Princess 
Metternich  could  not  yield  to  her  —  Count  Sandor  —  His 
strange  exploits  —  Practical  joke  on  his  old  housekeeper  — 
Imperial  hospitality  at  Compiegne  —  Dresses  required  for 
the  week's  visit  —  Daily  life  of  the  visitors  —  Kindness  of 
the  Imperial  hosts  —  Five  o'clock  tea  in  the  private  apart- 
ments of  the  Empress  —  Evenings  —  Questionable  diversions 
provided  by  the  Princess  Metternich  —  Exaggerated  re- 
ports—  Personal  description  of  the  Princess  Metternich  — 
General  Floury 116 

CHAPTER  XII 

"Golden  Wedding"  of  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie  —  Curious  story  of  a  lost  ring  -  Marriage  of 
my  elder  pupil  -  Prince  Maximilian  von  Thurn  und  Taxis 
Death  of  the  C te  de  Tascher  —  Kindness  and  affec- 
tionate attentions  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  during  his 
Lasl  illness  Sorrow  of  the  Emperor  —  The  Count  laid  out 
in  state  — Effed  on  the  Empress  —  Her  nervous  condition  — 


CONTENTS  is 

PAGE 

Her  private  sorrows  —  She  begins  to  interfere  in  political 
matters  —  Our  home  life  after  the  death  of  the  Comte  de 
Tascher  —  Home  evenings  —  "Weekly  receptions  —  Ambas- 
sadors Extraordinary  from  Oriental  lands  —  The  Persian 
Ambassador  —  The  Embassy  from  Siam  —  Reception  at 
Fontainebleau  —  The  hair-dresser  Leroy 131 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  little  Prince  Imperial  —  The  Emperor's  excessive  indul- 
gence—  Vain  efforts  of  the  Empress  "to  bring  up  that 
child  properly  "  — The  Empress  and  the  pony  —  The  Em- 
peror and  the  orange —  Amiable  disposition  of  the  Prince 
—  His  efforts  to  "earn  money  for  the  poor"  —  General 
Frossard's  military  discipline — Anecdotes  —  The  "honor 
of  the  uniform"  —  The  Prince  takes  the  measles  —  Seri- 
ously ill  —  Nm-sed  by  the  Empress  with  the  greatest  ma- 
ternal devotion 144 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  military  element  in  Parisian  society  —  Pelissier  and 
Canrobert  —  Anecdotes  of  the  former  —  How  he  treated  a 
coward  —  A  defective  omelet  and  its  consequences  —  His 
uncivilized  manners  —  His  marriage  —  The  Duchesse  de 
Malakoff  — -  Canrobert  —  His  marriage  —  Madaine  Canro- 
bert—  Pretensions  of  the  marshal  checked  by  the  Em- 
peror —  An  apparently  ill-assorted  but  happy  pair  — 
Honorable  character  of  Canrobert  —  MacMahon  —  Castel- 
lane  —  Magnan  —  Bosquet  —  Characteristic  anecdote  of 
the  Emperor  —  Vaillant  —  Randon  —  Three  inappropriate 
Christian  names  —  Bazaine 151 


CHAPTER  XV 

Monsieur  Thouvenel — A  French  ambassador  at  Constanti- 
nople—  A  night  spent  in  Oriental  luxury — Its  question- 
able delights  —  A  parrot's  reprimand  to  an  ambassador  — 
Monsieur  Thouvenel,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — Policy 
of  Monsieur  Thouvenel — Opposition  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  —  The  Emperor's  speech  on  opening  the  Legis- 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

lative  Assembly — Feeling  of  the  nation  —  Thouvenel  obliged 
to  resign  —  The  child  and  the  Emperor  —  Generosity  of  the 
latter  —  Petition  of  a  Legitimist  lady  —  Plain  speaking  — 
Chivalrous  conduct  of  the  Emperor  —  His  noble  nature. .  . .   160 

CHAPTEE  XVI 

Clouds  in  the  sky  of  the  Empire  —  The  Mexican  war  unpopu- 
lar—  "L'Empire,  c'est  la  paix!"  —  Financial  difficulties  — 
Extravagant  tendencies  of  the  Emperor  —  The  yacht  built 
for  the  Empress  —  The  Hotel  d'Albe  built  and  destroyed  — 
Expenses  of  Compiegne  and  Fontainebleau  —  Costly  artistic 
mistakes  —  The  Emperor's  lavish  generosity  —  Too  many 
improvements  in  Paris  —  Spanish  preferences  of  the  Em- 
press —  She  goes  to  bull-fights  —  The  Empress  goes  to  Spain 
—  Death  of  the  Due  de  Morny 168 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Evenings  in  the  apartments  of  the  Duchesse  de  Tascher  — 
Madame  Kistori,  the  tragic  actress  —  How  a  stage  queen 
ate  aspai-agus  —  Her  conversation  —  Sixteen  thousand 
pounds  of  luggage  —  Danger  in  a  glass  of  lemonade  —  Rec- 
itations —  The  real  dress  of  Queen  Mary  on  the  scaffold  — 
Madame  Ristori's  impersonation  of  Mary  Stuart  —  The  evil 
eye  —  The  value  of  stage  bouquets  as  a  mark  of  public  en- 
thusiasm —Leopold  von  Mayer —  How  he  played  the  piano 
with  his  fists  —  He  plays  before  the  Sultan  —  Death  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Bourges  —  The  Papal  Nuncio  —  Prince  Chigi 
-Djemil  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Ambassador  —  Marriage  of 
Hortense  de  Tascher  to  the  Comte  de  l'Espine   180 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

I  leave  the  Tuileries  —  Opinion  in  the  provinces  —  The  Em- 
press severely  judged  —  Exaggerated  reports  —  Intimacy 
with  Metternich  and  Nigra  — Why  the  Emperor  disap- 
proved—Opinion  expressed  by  the  Due  de  Tascher  on  the 
Empress,  before  her  marriage— Outbreak  of  the  cholera  — 
Her  admirable  conduct  —  How  an  Empress  "  stands  fire  "— 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

Nature  and  education  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  —  The 
Empress  Augusta  of  Germany — The  Empress  Eugenie 
visits  charitable  institutions —  Mile.  Bouvet  —  The  Empress 
visits  the  poor  —  Goes  to  Belleville  and  other  dangerous 
places  —  Excellent  intentions  not  alwaj's  wisely  carried  out 
—  Successful  interference  in  the  Penitentiary  for  Juvenile 
Offenders 188 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Hints  in  the  papers  on  the  Emperor's  health  —  The  cost  of  a 
crown  —  Visits  to  provincial  towns  —  Uncomfortable  luxury 
—  The  true  color  of  the  Empress's  hair  —  The  great  exhibi- 
tion —  Death  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  —  Death  of  the 
Due  de  Tascher  and  of  the  Duehesse  de  Bassano  —  The  Em- 
press goes  to  the  opeuing  of  the  Suez  Canal  —  Effect  on  the 
Mohammedan  population  —  The  Emperor  and  Prince  Im- 
perial at  Compiegne  —  My  visit  to  the  Tuileries  in  1870  — 
Physical  condition  of  the  Emperor  —  The  plebiscite  —  Tes- 
timony of  Lord  Malmesbury  —  I  leave  Paris  with  sad  fore- 
bodings —  The  palace  of  the  Tuileries  when  I  next  saw  it . .  200 


CHAPTER  XX 

Apathy  of  the  Emperor  —  The  party  of  the  Empress  —  A 
consultation  of  medical  and  surgical  authorities  on  the 
Emperor's  health  —  An  operation  declared  necessary  —  The 
Hohenzollern  incident  —  The  Emperor  unwilling  for  war  — 
The  scene  at  St.  Cloud  related  to  Lord  Malmesbury  by  the 
Due  de  Gramont  —  The  Emperor  yields  —  His  sad  fore- 
bodings—  The  Empress  appointed  Regent  —  The  Prince 
Imperial  goes  with  his  father  to  join  the  army  —  The 
"  baptism  of  fire  "  —  First  reverses  —  The  Empress  returns 
to  Paris  —  The  Emperor's  health  gives  way  —  He  is  urged 
to  return  to  Paris  —  Opposition  of  the  Empress  —  The 
Emperor  sends  the  Prince  Impeiial  to  Belgium  —  The  Em- 
peror goes  to  Sedan  against  his  will  —  The  Prince  Imperial 
receives  orders  to  go  over  to  England,  where  he  meets 
his  mother  at  Hastings 212 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXI 

PAGE 

MacMahon  leads  the  army  to  Sedan  —  Despair  of  the  Em- 
peror —  He  vainly  seeks  death  —  He  gives  up  his  sword  to 
the  King  of  Prussia  —  Telegram  to  the  Empress  —  Confu- 
sion and  treachery  around  her  —  The  Princess  Clotilde 
comes  to  share  her  danger  —  The  ambassadors  of  Austria 
and  Italy  offer  their  protection — She  goes  with  them,  fol- 
lowed only  by  Madame  Lebreton  —  The  Empress  and 
Madame  Lebreton  left  to  then  fate  in  a  hackney-carriage .  224 

CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Empress  applies  to  Dr.  Evans  in  her  distress  —  Leaves 
Paris  in  his  carriage  —  A  perilous  journey  —  The  arrival  at 
Trouville  —  Sir  John  Burg-oyne  and  his  sailing-yacht,  the 
Gazelle  —  Consents  to  take  the  Empress  over  to  England  — 
A  perilous  undertaking  —  Tremendous  storm  —  Safe  arrival 
at  Rydo  —  The  Empress  meets  her  son  at  Hastings  —  Hires 
a  furnished  country  house  at  Chiselhurst  —  The  Emperor  a 
prisoner  at  Wiiheluish'ihe  —  His  patience  and  kindness ....  234 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  Emperor  in  England  —  Visit  of  Lord  Malmesbury  —  His 
impression  of  the  interview  —  The  Commune  in  Pai'is — 
"What  the  leaders  really  were —  Burning  of  the  Tuileries  — 
How  effected 243 

CONCLUSION 

The  Empress  and  her  son  settle  at  Camden  Place,  Chisel- 
hursl  -  The  Emperor  joins  them  after  the  peace  —  First 
difficulties  —  Education  of  the  Prince  Imperial  —  Woolwich 
—  Hopes  of  a  restoration  of  the  Empire  —  The  Emperor's 
health  —  His  unexpected  death  —  The  Prince  receives  a 
large  number  of  Imperialists  on  his  coming  of  age  —  Passes 
his  examination  satisfactorily  at  Woolwich  —  His  life  at 
Chiselhurst—  Difficulties  —  Hopes  —  He  determines  to  join 
the  English  army  in  South  Africa  —  His  departure  —His 
reckless  bravery  — He  is  killed  in  a  reconnoissance  —  Par- 
ticulars of  his  death  —  Announcement  of  the  news  to  the 
Empress  —  Her  journey  to  Zululand  —  Her  present  life 251 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Eugenie. Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

The  Tuileries  from  the  Place  du  Carrousel 8 

General  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie;  Princess 
Amelie  von  der  Leyen,  Comtesse  de  Tascher  de 
la  Pagerie  ;  and  Due  de  Tascher 16 

Empress  Eugenie  wearing  a  Spanish  Mantilla 32 

Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  40 

Garden  Front  of  the  Tuileries 48 

Prince  Jerome  and  Princess  Mathilde 56 

Prince  Napoleon  and  Princess  Clotilde 64 

Due  de  Morny  and  Duchesse  de  Morny 72 

Comte  de  Walewski  and  Prince  Napoleon 80 

Napoleon  III.,  Empress  Eugenie,  and  Prince  Imperial.     96 

Marshal  Canrobert  and  Marshal  MacMahon 112 

Empress  Eugenie,  1863 128 

The  Prince  Imperial 144 

Due  de  Malakoff  and  Duchesse  de  Malakoff 152 

xiii 


xiv  LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING   PAGE 

Marshal  Castellane  and  Marshal  Randon 160 

Duchess  or  Alva  and  Children. 176 

The  Rue  de  Rivoli  during  the  Burning  of  the  Tui- 
lerees 192 

Gallery  of  Peace,  Ruins  of  the  Tuileries 208 

Rums  of  the  Hall  of  the  Marshals,  Caryatides  of  the 
Throne  on  the  Right 224 

Ruins  of  the  Vestibule  of  the  Tuileries 240 

TiiE  Pavilion  of  Flora  after  the  Fire 248 

The  Prince  Imperial,  in  Artillery  Uniform 272 


LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 
UNDER  THE  SECOND   EMPIRE 


LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

UNDER  THE  SECOND   EMPIRE 


CHAPTER  I 

The  palace  of  the  Tuileries  under  previous  sovereigns — Procla- 
mation of  the  Second  Empire  —  The  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie  —  Napoleon  I.  and  Josephine  —  Ball  given  by  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  on  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  I.  with  Marie- 
Louise — Tragic  fate  of  the  Princess  von  der  Ley  en — Her 
daughter  married  to  the  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  — 
Exile  after  the  fall  of  the  First  Empire — Prince  Eugene  de 
Beauharnais  —  Queen  Hortense  —  Napoleon  III.  in  his  youth  — 
His  friendship  for  the  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie — When 
President  of  the  French  Republic  he  summons  the  Comte  and 
his  son  to  the  Elysee  —  Their  opposition  to  his  marriage  with 
Eugenie  de  Montijo  overruled — Court  of  the  Empress  Eugenie. 


THE  beautiful  palace  built  by  Catherine  de  Med- 
ieis,  and  afterward  enlarged  by  the  succeeding 
royal  owners,  was  not,  at  first,  a  favorite  residence 
of  the  French  kings.  With  the  exception  of  a  short 
period  during  the  minority  of  Louis  XV.,  it  was 
not  permanently  inhabited  by  the  Court  before  the 
French  Revolution,  at  which  time  Louis  XVI.  and 
Marie  Antoinette  were  forcibly  brought  there  from 
Versailles  ;  being  detained  in  a  sort  of  captivity 
till  the  fatal  insurrection  of  August  10,  1792,  when 


2  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

the  mob  broke  into  the  palace  and  massacred  the 
Swiss  guards,  while  the  royal  family  took  refuge 
in  the  Legislative  Assembly,  whence  they  were  taken 
as  prisoners  to  the  Temple  tower. 

When  Napoleon  Bonaparte  became  First  Consul, 
and  while  Emperor,  he  preferred  the  Tuileries  to  the 
immense  palace  of  Versailles,  which,  in  those  days  of 
slow  conveyances,  was  at  an  inconvenient  distance 
from  Paris,  and  ordered  the  apartments  to  be  pre- 
pared with  great  magnificence  for  the  requirements 
of  his  Court. 

Louis  XVIII.  followed  his  example  after  the  re- 
storation of  the  Bourbons ;  the  Tuileries  palace  was 
splendidly  furnished  and  ready  for  occupation,  while 
Versailles,  having  been  pillaged  and  much  injured, 
could  only  be  made  habitable  at  great  expense.  Na- 
poleon said  sarcastically  on  this  occasion :  "  If  Louis 
is  wise,  he  will  use  my  bed-chamber,  and  sleep  in  my 
bed,  for  it  is  a  good  one."  The  King  was  wise,  and 
unconsciously  followed  the  ironical  advice. 

The  court  was  now  definitely  established  at  the 
Tuileries,  which  was  inhabited,  after  the  fall  of 
Charles  the  Tenth,  by  Louis  Philippe  and  his  family, 
during  the  whole  of  the  latter's  reign. 

After  the  revolution  of  1848,  and  the  flight  of 
Louis  Philippe,  the  mob  again  broke  into  the  pal- 
ace of  the  Tuileries,  where  the  royal  apartments 
were  pillaged.  The  throne,  carried  in  triumph  by 
the  populace,  was  burned ;  total  destruction  was 
feared,    but   was   happily   prevented    by   the  Pro- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  3 

visional  Government,  who  declared  the  Tuileries 
national  property. 

From  this  time  the  palace  remained  uninhabited 
till  the  coup  d'etat  of  Louis  Napoleon,  then  President 
of  the  French  Eepublic.  In  January,  1852,  Napo- 
leon removed  from  the  Elysee  to  the  Tuileries,  which, 
a  few  months  later,  on  December  2, 1852,  he  solemnly 
reentered  as  Emperor,  passing  under  the  triumphal 
arch  of  the  principal  entrance,  adorned  with  the  in- 
scriptions :  "  Vox  Populi,  vox  Dei ! "  "  Ave  Csesar, 
Imperator ! " 

And  yet  people  will  talk  seriously  of  the  "Will 
of  the  nation"!  Could  any  one  who  witnessed  the 
wild  enthusiasm  of  the  first  days  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire doubt  its  sincerity  ?  And  yet  what  a  fall  after 
eighteen  years  of  prosperity ! 

Nearly  two  months  later,  on  January  22,  1853,  the 
new  Emperor  convened  all  the  great  functionaries  of 
the  state  in  the  throne-room  of  the  Tuileries.  There 
he  announced  his  intended  marriage, — a  marriage  in 
opposition  to  all  the  traditions  of  his  predecessors — 
a  circumstance  which,  with  his  characteristic  adroit- 
ness, he  contrived  to  present  as  having  great  ad- 
vantages over  ordinary  princely  unions.  All  were 
astonished.  No  one,  however,  had  any  time  for  op- 
position, if  such  had  been  intended ;  for  only  a  week 
after  the  official  announcement  had  been  made  to 
the  representatives  of  the  nation,  the  civil  marriage 
took  place  at  the  Tuileries,  preceding,  according  to 
custom,  the  religious  ceremony,  which  was  celebrated 


4  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEREES 

on  the  following  day  at  Notre  Dame.  The  young 
Empress,  who  had  remained  at  the  Elysee  during  the 
interval,  then  returned  in  state  to  the  Tuileries,  and 
appeared,  in  her  white  robe  and  veil,  on  the  fated 
balcony  of  the  "Salle  des  Marechaux,"  where  so 
many  princesses  had  stood — the  last  royal  bride  who 
would  ever  be  seen  there. 

The  marriage  of  the  ambitious  heir  of  the  great 
Napoleon  with  Eugenie  de  Montijo  (who,  though  de- 
scended from  the  illustrious  race  of  Griizman,  was  not 
of  royal  blood)  astonished  the  world,  and  none  more 
than  his  most  faithful  and  devoted  adherents,  among 
whom  were  the  whole  family  de  Tascher  de  la  Pa- 
gerie,  his  oldest  friends  and  relatives. 

The  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  first  cousin  to 
the  Empress  Josephine,  had  been  called  to  the  court 
of  Napoleon  I.  when  scarcely  more  than  a  boy  in 
years,  and  soon  became  a  great  favorite,  not  only 
of  Josephine,  but  also  of  the  great  Emperor  himself, 
whom  he  followed  in  his  campaigns,  but  more  es- 
pecially under  the  command  of  his  cousin  Prince 
Eugene  de  Beauharnais,  who  was  the  son  of  Jo- 
sephine de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  by  her  first  marriage 
with  the  Comte  de  Beauharnais,  guillotined  during 
the  French  Revolution. 

The  affection  of  both  Napoleon  and  Josephine  for 
the  spirited  and  chivalrous  young  officer  survived 
their  divorce;  and  at  the  time  of  Napoleon's  mar- 
riage with  Marie-Louise,  the  young  Comte  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie  was  betrothed,  with  the  Emperor's  ap- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  5 

proval,  to  the  Princess  Amelie  von  der  Leyen,  daugh- 
ter of  the  mediatized *  Prince  von  der  Leyen.  The 
marriage  took  place,  but  under  particularly  disas- 
trous circumstances. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  the  ball  given  by  the 
Austrian  ambassador,  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  in 
honor  of  the  imperial  nuptials  was  the  scene  of  a 
frightful  catastrophe.  The  hangings  of  the  ball-room 
having  caught  fire,  the  flames  spread  to  the  whole 
building,  and  many  victims  perished,  amongst  whom 
were  the  Princess  Schwarzenberg  herself,  and  the 
Princess  von  der  Leyen,  both  in  the  attempt  to  save 
their  daughters.  The  Princess  Amelie  was  dancing 
with  her  future  husband  when  the  fire  broke  out; 
he  at  once  placed  her  in  safety,  returning  to  seek  her 
mother,  who  meanwhile  had  been  taken  away  from 
the  ball-room,  but  who,  like  the  Princess  Schwarz- 
enberg, rushed  back  into  the  flames  to  find  her 
daughter.  A  burning  beam  had  fallen  on  her,  and, 
when  found,  her  condition  was  absolutely  hopeless. 
She  was  extricated  with  the  greatest  difficulty ;  the 
heat  around  her  had  been  so  intense  that  the  silver 
setting  of  her  diamonds  had  melted  into  the  burned 
flesh.  Strange  to  say,  a  few  flowers  of  a  wreath  she 
wore  had  escaped  the  flames,  and  the  writer  of  these 
pages  has  often  seen  them,  set  in  a  frame,  under  the 
portrait  of  the   unfortunate   Princess,  in   the  bed- 

1  The  mediatized  Princes  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  had  yielded 
their  petty  states  by  the  Rhine  Treaties,  but  retained  the  social  rank 
and  pri%'ileges  of  independent  sovereigns,  with  the  title  of  "Serene 
Highness." 


6  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

chamber  of  her  daughter.  She  lived  two  or  three 
days  in  fearful  suffering,  but  insisted  on  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  taking  place  at  once  by  her  death- 
bed. And  in  the  presence  of  the  dying  mother,  who 
had  sacrificed  her  life  for  her  daughter's  safety, 
Amelie  von  der  Leyen  was  united  to  Louis  de 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie. 

The  fall  of  the  First  Empire  destroyed  the  brilliant 
prospects  of  the  young  pair.  Louis  XVIII.  offered 
an  important  post  at  his  court  to  the  Comte  de  Tas- 
cher de  la  Pagerie ;  but  imbued  with  the  principle 
expressed  in  his  family  motto,  "Honori  fidelis,"  he 
rejected  all  advances,  even  from  those  who,  as  legiti- 
mate possessors,  filled  the  throne  of  the  emperor  to 
whom  he  had  sworn  allegiance,  and  therefore  chose 
to  follow  his  cousin  Prince  Eugene  de  Beauharnais, 
who,  having  married  a  princess  of  Bavaria,  had 
elected  Munich  as  his  residence  in  exile.  The  sister 
of  Prince  Eugene,  Hortense  (who  was  separated  from 
her  husband,  Louis  Bonaparte,  king  of  Holland), 
had  accepted  the  title  of  "Duchesse  de  Saint-Leu," 
and  wandered  from  one  place  of  residence  to  another 
with  her  two  sons,  the  younger  of  whom  was  after- 
ward known  as  Napoleon  III. 

Louis  de  Tascher  remained  on  terms  of  the  great- 
est affection  and  intimacy  with  Queen  Hortense, 
and  after  the  death  of  her  brother,  Prince  Eugenej 
he  became  her  most  trusted  friend  and  counselor. 

His  sons  and  daughters,  who  were  often  invited 
to   stay   at   Arenenberg,  on  the   lake  of  Constance 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  7 

(where  she  finally  resided  habitually),  were  the  play- 
fellows of  her  sons  in  their  childhood,  and  the  friends 
of  Louis  Napoleon  when,  by  the  death  of  his  elder 
brother,  he  became  the  head  of  the  Bonaparte  family, 
and  the  representative  of  what  they  held  to  be  their 
rights.  The  light-hearted  girls  and  merry  boys  of 
the  de  Tascher  family  brought  some  life  to  the  too 
quiet  home  of  Queen  Hortense,  where  the  future  em- 
peror, always  absorbed  in  thought,  was  then,  as  in 
after  life,  a  gentle  dreamer,  scarcely  roused  to  a  smile 
by  the  vivacious  ways  and  lively  jests  of  his  young 
cousins,  who,  as  they  afterward  acknowledged,  could 
not  help,  even  then,  feeling  inwardly  a  sort  of  awe 
in  his  presence,  as  in  that  of  a  superior  being. 

When  the  end  of  Queen  Hortense  drew  near,  she 
summoned  the  Comte  de  Tascher  to  her  bedside,  to 
receive  her  last  instructions  and  hear  her  last  wishes. 
He  it  was  who  attended  to  all  that  was  needful  after 
her  death;  who  obtained  from  the  government  of 
Louis  Philippe  the  requisite  permission  to  bring  back 
the  remains  of  the  exiled  queen  to  her  native  land ; 
and  who  followed  them  to  their  last  resting-place 
at  Rueil,  near  Paris.  There  was,  consequently,  a 
strong  tie  of  affection,  confidence,  and  respect  be- 
tween Prince  Louis  Napoleon  and  his  mother's  rela- 
tive and  trusted  friend.  When  his  strangely  varied 
fortunes  brought  him  to  that  supreme  position  which 
he  had  always  anticipated  in  what  seemed  idle 
dreams,  he  immediately  called  the  Comte  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie,  and  his  surviving  son,  to  his  bachelor 


8  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

court  at  the  Elysee;  the  ladies  of  the  family  re- 
mained, temporarily,  at  Munich. 

The  Comte  de  Tascher  had  always  felt  the  impor- 
tance of  a  suitable  marriage  for  Prince  Louis  Napo- 
leon, and  had  greatly  exerted  himself  to  negotiate 
several  which  he  approved,  and  which  had  been 
nearly  concluded.  One,  in  the  early  youth  of  the 
Prince,  with  the  Princess  Mathilde,  his  cousin,  sister 
of  Prince  (Jerome)  Napoleon,  had  been  settled  by 
family  arrangements,  but  was  broken  off,  after  the 
failure  of  the  Strasburg  conspiracy.  Other  negotia- 
tions, undertaken  by  the  Comte  de  Tascher  person- 
ally, in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  hand  of  several 
German  princesses,  had  fallen  through,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ill-will  of  their  respective  courts. 

The  Comte  de  Tascher  still  hoped,  nevertheless, 
that  the  rising  fortunes  of  the  Prince,  now  President 
of  the  French  Republic,  would  finally  conquer  all 
difficulties ;  but  the  mere  idea  that,  as  Emperor  (a 
destiny  which  all  foresaw),  he  would  marry  the  beau- 
tiful Spanish  girl  with  whom,  as  President,  he  flirted 
at  Compiegne,  never  seriously  dwelt  in  the  mind  of 
the  devoted  friend  of  early  days.  When,  immedi- 
ately after  the  proclamation  of  the  Empire,  the  in- 
tentions of  the  new  Emperor  were  communicated 
privately  to  the  Comte  de  Tascher  and  his  son,  they 
were  so  painfully  surprised  that  they  warmly  remon- 
strated as  to  the  complications  which  would  be  added 
to  his  already  difficult  position,  by  the  act  of  raising 
to  the  throne  of  France  a  private  gentlewoman  (how- 


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'l-vWfltf^tL 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  9 

ever  attractive  she  might  be),  without  consulting  the 
will  of  the  nation.  They  reminded  him  that  the  case 
of  Josephine,  to  which  he  referred,  was  not  to  be 
quoted  as  parallel ;  she  was  more  than  her  husband's 
equal  when  she  married  him,  and  had  risen  with 
him.  As  the  Emperor  would  listen  to  no  expostu- 
lation, they  finally  declared  that  if  he  persisted  in 
his  intentions  they  would  leave  him  and  return  to 
Germany. 

At  this,  the  Emperor,  who  was  pacing  the  room, 
suddenly  turned  round,  exclaiming  with  unusual 
vehemence : 

"  So,  because  you  look  upon  me  as  a  drowning 
man,  you  will  leave  me,  and  refuse  to  give  me  a 
helping  hand?" 

This  was  startling  and  painful ;  they  were  silenced. 
The  Emperor  then  made  a  strong  appeal  to  their  feel- 
ings of  old  friendship  and  personal  attachment,  to 
induce  them  not  only  to  welcome  his  bride,  but  to 
accept  the  two  most  important  posts  in  her  future 
court.  The  General  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Page- 
rie  was  appointed  "  Grand  Master  of  the  Empress's 
Household,"  and  his  son,  then  called  "  Count  Charles," 
became  First  Chamberlain. 

The  Empress  was  fully  aware  of  their  conscien- 
tious opposition  to  her  marriage,  which,  naturally, 
caused  some  constraint  at  first ;  but  her  own  sincere 
nature  soon  appreciated  the  noble  and  chivalrous 
character  of  the  old  Count,  and  the  honest  devoted- 
ness  of  his  son,  when  once  they  had  given  their  al- 


10  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

legiance.  The  ladies  of  the  family  then  came  to  the 
Tuileries,  where  apartments  were  provided  for  them, 
and  where  the  Emperor  received  them  on  their  ar- 
rival with  the  most  unaffected  kindness,  recalling 
heartily  old  times  and  bygone  recollections. 

The  splendor  of  the  First  Empire  now  reappeared 
at  the  Tuileries.  The  Comte  de  Tascher  would  have 
preferred  a  mere  military  household  for  the  Em- 
peror, and  the  strictly  necessary  number  of  ladies 
for  the  Empress ;  but  Napoleon  III.  was  determined 
to  revive  the  court  of  Napoleon  I.,  with  its  some- 
what obsolete  magnificence. 

There  was  a  Great  Chamberlain,  the  Due  de  Bas- 
sano,  who  resided  at  the  palace  in  the  Pavilion  Mar- 
san  (formerly  inhabited  by  the  Due  d'Orleans  and 
Due  de  Nemours,  sons  of  Louis  Philippe).  The  apart- 
ments of  the  Due  de  Bassano  were  those  which  had 
belonged  to  the  Due  de  Nemours.  The  Empress  had  a 
"  Grand  Maitre,"  the  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie, 
two  chamberlains,  an  equerry,  six  ladies-in-waiting 
(afterward  increased  to  twelve),  a  "Dame  d'hon- 
neur,"  or  First  Lady,  and  a  "  Grande  Maitresse,"  the 
Princesse  d'Essling.  The  "Dame  d'honneur"  was 
the  Duchesse  de  Bassano ;  the  others  were  often  er- 
roneously called  "dames  d'honneur"  by  the  uniniti- 
ated, but  were  properly  entitled  "  Dames  du  Palais," 
or  "  Ladies  of  the  Palace." 

The  Duchesse  de  Bassano  did  not,  like  the  others, 
take  regular  turns  of  "  waiting  "  on  the  Empress,  but 
appeared  on  ceremonious  occasions,  taking  the  first 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  11 

rank,  shared  with  the  Princesse  d'Essling,  who  was 
entitled  "Grande  Maitresse  of  the  Empress's  House- 
hold." On  state  visits  to  the  opera,  with  foreign 
princes  and  princesses,  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano 
and  the  Princesse  d'Essling  took  turns  to  stand  be- 
hind the  chair  of  the  Empress  during  the  whole 
evening,  each  for  half  an  hour  at  a  time.  The 
Duchesse  de  Bassano  told  me  that  this  was  very 
trying,  as  there  was,  of  course,  no  possibility  of 
leaning  on  any  support,  and  they  must  stand  mo- 
tionless. At  the  receptions  of  ambassadors,  and 
other  state  occasions,  all  the  ladies  appeared  around 
the  Empress,  but  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano  was 
always  at  their  head.  The  three  principal  ladies 
were  the  Princesse  d'Essling,  the  Duchesse  de  Bas- 
sano, and  Madame  Bruat1,  widow  of  l'Amiral  Bruat, 
who  was  state-governess  to  the  Prince  Imperial,  or, 
as  she  was  formally  entitled,  "  Gouvernante  des 
Enfants  de  France,"  a  great  source  of  exasperation 
to  the  Legitimists,  who  claimed  the  title  of  "  Fils  de 
France  "  exclusively  for  the  Comte  de  Chambord. 
These  three  ladies,  who  held  the  rank  of  "  grand 
officier,"  wore  the  portrait  of  the  Empress  set  in 
diamonds,  hanging  from  a  knot  of  ribbon  fastened 
on  the  left  shoulder.  The  other  "  ladies-in-waiting  " 
wore  in  the  same  manner  the  monogram  of  the  Em- 
press, if  (Eugenie  Imperatrice),  in  small  diamonds, 
on  an  enamel  ground.  The  Comte  Charles  de  Tas- 
cher  de  la  Pagerie  was  First  Chamberlain.     He  had 

1  Appointed  on  the  birth  of  the  Prince  Imperial. 


12  LIFE  IN   THE  TUILEKIES 

already  inherited  the  title  of  duke,  through  his  Ger- 
man mother,  from  her  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Dalberg, 
Prince  Primate  of  Germany,  but  his  deep  respect 
for  his  father  had  prevented  him  from  taking  prece- 
dence as  duke,  till,  at  a  later  period,  the  Count  him- 
self insisted  on  his  doing  so,  when  a  decree  signed 
by  the  Emperor  authorized  the  Comte  Charles  de 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  to  bear  henceforward  the 
title  of  duke. 

To  prevent  confusion,  I  shall  at  once  use  the  title, 
although  chronologically  it  was  not  yet  adopted. 

The  principal  functionaries  had  apartments  in  the 
palace.  These  were  furnished  with  a  somewhat  bare 
and  dreary  magnificence ;  the  rooms  looked  stately, 
but  empty  and  uncomfortable,  and  many  small  ar- 
ticles of  modern  upholstery  had  to  be  purchased  by 
the  occupants,  to  adapt  the  majestic  historical  abode 
to  the  habits  of  the  day. 


CHAPTER  II 

My  position  at  the  Tuileries  —  The  family  de  Tascher  de  la  Pa- 
gerie  —  First  opportunities  of  seeing  the  Empress  —  Her  won- 
derful beauty  —  The  color  of  her  hair  —  An  evening  with  the 
Empress  in  her  private  circle  —  Unseasonable  interruption  — 
Etiquette  and  its  annoyances  —  Court  obligations  —  Gilded 
chains. 


THREE  years  had  elapsed  since  the  arrival  of 
the  family  at  the  Tuileries,  when  I  was  in- 
formed that  the  future  Duchesse  de  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie  wished  to  meet  with  a  lady,  born  a  gentle- 
woman, accustomed  to  good  society,  conscientious 
and  reliable,  who  would  be  capable  of  entirely  fill- 
ing her  place  by  her  daughters,  and  who  would 
constantly  be  their  friend  and  guide.  She  would  be 
"  governess,"  only  in  the  court  sense  of  the  function ; 
not  as  a  mere  teacher,  but  as  "  governing  "  their  edu- 
cation, superintending  their  studies,  directing  their 
reading,  and  accompanying  them  wherever  they 
went.  The  German  lady  who  had  begun  their 
education  was  about  to  be  married,  and  the  elder 
daughter  being  now  sixteen,  it  was  thought  desir- 
able to  make  a  new  choice,  with  a  few  modifica- 
tions as  to  requirements.  Some  of  my  friends  had 
thought  of  proposing  me  to  fill  this  exceptional  post. 

18 


14  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

The  circumstance  that  members  of  my  family  were 
intimate  with  cousins  of  the  de  Tascher  family 
would,  it  was  considered,  facilitate  an  introduction. 

Finally,  after  much  discussion,  I  was  taken  to  the 
Tuileries,  and  presented  to  the  Duchess.  The  senti- 
nels and  the  servants  in  imperial  livery  had  made  me 
feel  sufficiently  nervous,  but  when  I  entered  the  pri- 
vate apartments  occupied  by  the  family,  and,  after 
passing  through  lugubrious  dark  passages,  with 
lamps  in  mid-day,  suddenly  found  myself  in  broad 
daylight,  and  within  the  rooms  which,  I  was  in- 
formed, would  be  mine  if  matters  were  favorably 
settled,  my  alarm  increased  to  a  painful  degree.  I 
felt  that  a  new  life,  quite  unknown,  was  opening  be- 
fore me,  and  its  very  brilliancy,  to  one  who  had 
always  lived  in  retirement,  was  startling.  My  future 
pupils  came  forward  to  meet  me  :  the  elder,  a  bloom- 
ing girl  of  sixteen,  fresh  as  a  rose,  but  more  wo- 
manly in  appearance  than  I  expected,  and  with  the 
graceful  ease  of  manner  which  indicates  the  habit  of 
general  society ;  the  younger,  a  pretty  child  of  eleven, 
more  shy  than  her  sister.  The  rooms,  plainly  fur- 
nished in  bright  chintz,  looked  comfortable  and 
homelike. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  general  conversation,  the 
door  suddenly  opened,  and  the  Duchess  came  in 
quickly;  a  tall,  graceful  figure,  very  commanding 
in  appearance,  the  court  lady  from  head  to  foot, 
very  beautiful,  and  most  elegantly  dressed.  Being 
very  near-sighted,  she  drew  close  to  me  with  half-shut 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  15 

eyes,  and  peered  down  at  me,  very  much  as  if  she 
were  trying  to  find  a  fly  on  the  carpet;  but  in  the 
conversation  that  followed,  when  we  had  resumed 
our  seats,  her  manner  was  most  courteous,  and  even 
a  little  embarrassed,  through  the  evident  fear  of  giv- 
ing offense  by  expressing  her  wishes  too  plainly. 
Altogether,  she  left  upon  me  the  full  impression  of 
that  considerate  good  breeding  which  is  generally, 
but  not  always,  the  characteristic  of  distinguished 
rank. 

I  remained,  however,  for  some  days  in  doubt  as  to 
my  final  acceptance,  being  told  by  my  friends  that 
although  everything  had  been  found  very  satisfac- 
tory, there  was  some  hesitation  on  account  of  my 
youth,  the  position  being  one  of  absolute  trust,  which 
was  thought  to  require  the  experience  of  riper  years. 
However,  other  applicants,  though  older  than  myself, 
seemed  to  present  fewer  guarantees ;  I  was  therefore 
finally  engaged,  and  I  hope  I  may  be  permitted  to 
add  that  the  decision  never  caused  any  regret. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when,  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  I  entered  the  palace,  where  I  was  fated 
to  reside  for  nine  years,  during  the  most  prosperous 
time  of  the  Second  Empire ;  but  as  yet  all  was  un- 
known,— therefore  necessarily  uncertain, — and  the 
nervous  anxiety  that  I  could  not  repress,  though  only 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  was  a  very  disa- 
greeable beginning.  Some  married  daughters  of  the 
Comte  de  Tascher,  with  their  children,  were  on  a 
visit  to  their  father,  and  the  whole  party  came  to  my 


16  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

apartments  soon  after  my  arrival,  escorted  by  the 
Duchess,  who  introduced  me.  They  encouraged  me 
with  so  much  unaffected  good-nature  and  friendli- 
ness, that  I  felt  somewhat  comforted,  but  fully  rec- 
ognized the  truth  of  their  parting  remark,  as  they 
went  off  laughingly :  "  You  will  feel  happier  a  week 
hence."  As  they  left  me,  I  was  told  to  dress  quickly, 
as  "mon  pere"  had  military  habits,  and  was  merci- 
lessly punctual ;  so,  giving  my  keys  to  the  confiden- 
tial maid  sent  to  assist  me,  I  begged  her  to  select 
what  I  ought  to  wear,  hastily  changing  my  attire 
according  to  her  instructions.  A  fresh  ordeal  now 
awaited  me:  presentation  to  the  Comtesse  de  Tas- 
cher,  Princess  Amelie  von  der  Leyen,  the  "  Durch- 
laucht"  or  Serene  Highness,  as  the  German  servants 
always  called  her.  My  pupils  came  to  fetch  me, 
leading  the  way  down  a  dark,  narrow,  winding  stair- 
case, then  through  a  wide  passage  paved  in  white 
and  black  marble,  and  through  folding-doors,  which 
my  eldest  pupil  opened,  drawing  back  courteously 
to  leave  me  full  precedence.  I  then  entered  a  large, 
handsome  room  hung  round  with  pictures,  and 
richly  furnished,  where  stood  a  group  of  ladies  ele- 
gantly dressed;  one  of  them,  the  Duchess,  came 
forward  immediately,  and  led  me  to  a  dignified 
elderly  lady  seated  in  a  deep  window,  whose  features 
at  once  reminded  me  vividly  of  all  the  historical 
portraits  of  German  princesses  I  had  seen  in  pic- 
ture-galleries. Next,  I  made  my  obeisance  to  her 
husband,  General  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie, 


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UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  17 

one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  appearance 
that  I  had  ever  seen,  whose  eagle  eye  and  aquiline 
profile  recalled  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  There  was 
no  time  for  conversation,  the  folding-doors  being 
thrown  open  and  dinner  announced. 

The  large,  handsome  dining-room,  where  the  nu- 
merous members  of  the  family  took  their  seats,  the 
servants,  in  and  out  of  livery,  the  display  of  plate, 
and  all  the  ceremony  of  a  formal  dinner  party, 
although  no  strangers  were  present,  made  me  feel 
more  than  ever  like  a  poor  little  sparrow  which  had 
strayed  alone  into  an  aviary  of  tropical  birds.  Con- 
versation was  general  and  very  animated.  I  was 
seated  next  the  (Princesse)  Comtesse  de  Tascher,  who 
from  time  to  time  spoke  to  me  kindly,  and  urged 
me  to  partake  of  the  dishes  handed  round.  When 
the  dinner  was  concluded,  every  one  rose  and 
moved  to  the  door,  where  they  stood  in  two  lines, 
while  the  "Durchlaucht"  passed  out  first,  the  others 
following  her  in  couples,  my  pupils  coming  last.  I 
was  then  allowed  to  retire  for  this  first  evening, 
and  was  thankful  to  do  so  after  taking  leave  of 
the  visitors,  who  were  returning  to  Germany  by  the 
night  train. 

The  next  morning,  of  course,  I  found  the  family 
much  reduced  in  number,  when  I  went  down  to 
the  dejeuner,  or  luncheon,  and  although  the  same 
statoliness  was  observed  in  the  arrangements,  every- 
thing looked  less  formidable.  The  Countess  asked 
me  kindly,  "Are  you  less  afraid  of  us,  now?"  and 


18  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

the  Count,  with  smiling  benevolence,  inquired  if 
my  first  night  at  the  Tuileries  had  brought  pleasant 
dreams  ?  The  Duke  was  "  de  service,"  or  "  in  wait- 
ing," so  I  scarcely  saw  him,  but  he  too  welcomed 
me  cordially,  telling  me  "  not  to  spoil  his  girls." 

After  luncheon,  my  two  pupils  and  their  brother, 
then  a  schoolboy  of  fifteen, 1  led  me  through  the 
various  rooms,  pointing  out  the  historical  portraits 
of  the  Bonapartes  and  Beauharnais;  those  of  the 
princes  and  princesses  allied  to  their  family;  the 
portrait  of  their  great-grandm other,  the  unfortu- 
nate Princess  von  der  Leyen,  and  the  flowers  which 
she  had  worn  at  the  fatal  ball ;  also  the  portrait  of 
the  Prince-Primate  of  Germany,  Duke  of  Dalberg, 
from  whom  their  father  inherited  his  title;  and 
proudly  explained  the  privilege  of  the  Dalbergs, 
to  be  dubbed  knights  at  the  coronation  of  the  em- 
perors of  Germany,  when  the  herald  called  three 
times:  "1st  kein  Dalberg  da?"  ("Is  there  no  Dal- 
berg here?") 

Then  they  showed  me  many  treasures  kept  in 
handsome  cabinets.  One  interested  me  particularly, 
a  large  plain  gold  ring  containing  the  hair  of  Marie 
Antoinette,  a  thick  lock  of  lovely  golden  hair, 
braided  into  a  close  plait;  not  the  rich  auburn  hue 
of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  but  a  sweeter,  paler  color, 
usually  seen  only  in  childhood. 

We  then  returned  to  our  apartments,  where  the 
day  was  spent  in  putting  all  that  I  had  brought 

1  Now  Due  de  Tascker  de  la  Pagerie,  and  bead  of  the  family. 


UNDER  THE    SECOND  EMPIRE  19 

with  me  in  due  order ;  and  the  evening  at  the  opera, 
whither  I  accompanied  the  Comtesse  Stephanie,  an 
unmarried  sister  of  the  Duke,  who  lived  at  the 
Tnileries.  We  went  in  one  of  the  Emperor's  car- 
riages, with  coachman  and  groom  in  imperial  liv- 
ery, for  which  the  police  made  room  when  needful. 
"Livree  de  l'Empereur!"  sufficed  to  cut  through 
all  files  of  carriages,  and  to  pass  everywhere,  when 
proclaimed  by  the  coachman  in  sonorous  tones.  We 
were  conducted  to  the  box,  called  "  de  service,"  de- 
voted to  the  household,  passing  before  bowing  offi- 
cials, and  much  stared  at  by  spectators. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  with  mass  in  the  im- 
perial chapel ;  but  on  the  Monday  I  began  fully  the 
duties  of  my  position,  which  I  soon  found  was  no 
sinecure,  though  made  as  pleasant  as  possible  by 
the  friendly  kindness  and  courtesy  of  all  around 
me.  But  from  the  moment  when  I  was  awakened 
in  the  morning  till  a  late  hour  at  night  there  was 
not  an  interval  of  time  to  breathe.  The  two  girls 
being  of  different  ages,  the  professors,  classes,  lec- 
tures, etc.,  were  also  totally  different ;  so  my  days 
were  spent  in  rushing  out  with  one,  and  then  rush- 
ing back  to  take  the  other  somewhere  else ;  on  foot, 
in  all  weathers,  which  the  Duchess  considered  neces- 
sary for  the  health  of  my  pupils  ;  but,  as  I  had  two, 
the  fatigue  was  doubled.  During  these  lectures,  etc., 
I  had  to  take  notes  incessantly,  and  to  prepare  the 
work  for  them.  Often  I  was  obliged  to  dress  in  ten 
minutes  for  a  large  dinner-party,  because  some  pro- 


20  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

fessor  had  prolonged  his  lesson  to  the  very  last  mo- 
ment. The  constant  mental  strain,  added  to  the 
physical  fatigue,  was  almost  more  than  I  could  en- 
dure, and  my  health  suffered  so  severely  that  I 
greatly  feared  the  impossibility  of  continuing  such 
an  arduous  task.  In  the  evening  there  were  dancing 
lessons  three  times  a  week ;  one  at  the  English  em- 
bassy, from  which  we  returned  at  a  late  hour,  and 
two  others  at  the  Tuileries  in  the  apartments  of  the 
Duchesse  de  Bassano,  our  next  neighbor.  On  the  re- 
maining evenings  I  frequently  accompanied  the 
(Princess)  Countess,  or  the  Comtesse  Stephanie,  to 
theaters  or  operas,  which,  though  very  agreeable, 
added  considerably  to  the  overwhelming  fatigue  of 
the  day.  As  to  my  own  private  correspondence,  I 
was  obliged  to  write  necessary  letters  often  very  late 
at  night,  to  the  great  anger  of  the  Duchess,  who 
rightly  declared  that  I  was  wearing  myself  out ;  but 
I  had  no  other  resource.  As  time  went  on,  matters 
happily  became  more  easy,  and  after  the  marriage  of 
my  eldest  pupil  with  Prince  Maximilian  von  Thurn 
und  Taxis,  my  task  was  considerably  diminished. 
The  work  of  the  first  year,  however,  was  absolutely 
crushing. 

I  had  seen  the  Empress  Eugenie  pass  by  in  her 
carriage  more  than  once,  before  I  entered  the  Tui- 
leries ;  but  although  I  could  not  but  think  her  beau- 
tiful, still,  like  most  of  those  who  saw  her  only  under 
such  circumstances,  I  had  no  idea  of  her  real  attrac- 
tions.   A  few  days  after  my  arrival  at  the  palace,  as 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  21 

I  was  crossing  the  large  courtyard  with  the  future 
Princess  von  Thurn  und  Taxis,  I  suddenly  saw  her 
stop  short  and  perform  the  court  courtesy, —  a  down- 
ward plunge,  instead  of  the  usual  bend, — while  the 
sentinel  presented  arms,  as  she  hastily  whispered: 
"  L'Imperatrice ! " 

There  was  the  Empress  standing  before  us,  at  a 
large  window  on  the  ground  floor,  an  ideal  vision 
robed  in  pale  blue  silk ;  the  sun,  forming  a  sort  of 
halo  around  her,  rested  on  her  hair,  which  seemed 
all  molten  gold.  I  was  absolutely  startled,  and  my 
impression  was  that  I  had  never  seen  such  a  beau- 
tiful creature,  fully  understanding  at  that  moment 
the  enthusiasm  which  I  had  supposed  to  be  exag- 
gerated. Her  face  was  beaming  with  smiles  as  she 
recognized  my  pupil,  nodding  to  her  with  the  most 
unpretending  good-nature.  I  remarked,  after  we 
had  passed  on,  that  I  had  supposed  her  hair  to  be 
of  a  darker  hue,  on  which  I  was  told  to  wait,  be- 
fore judging,  till  I  had  seen  her  in  the  shade  instead 
of  the  sun. 

I  soon  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  her  in  the 
chapel,  as  she  passed  before  me  on  her  way  to  the 
imperial  gallery,  bare-headed,  as  was  her  custom 
when  not  in  the  lower  part  of  the  building,  where 
she  condescended  to  wear  a  bonnet;  but  in  the 
gallery  she  wore  nothing  on  her  hair,  which  now 
looked  a  dark,  rich  chestnut  color,  instead  of  the 
golden  shade,  like  ripe  wheat,  which  I  had  seen  be- 
fore.   The   habit  which  the  Empress  had  adopted, 


22  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILERIES 

of  wearing  no  covering  on  her  head  during  the  Sun- 
day high  mass,  was  a  sore  grievance  to  the  clergy, 
who  in  vain  quoted  the  instructions  of  St.  Paul 
addressed  to  women.  But  she  listened  to  no  re- 
monstrance— as,  indeed,  was  usually  the  case  when 
anything  suited  her  fancy  or  her  convenience. 

The  opportunities  of  seeing  the  Empress  were  of 
almost  daily  occurrence,  when  she  was  at  the  Tuile- 
ries;  for  although  we  inhabited  another  part  of  the 
palace,  she  passed  before  our  windows  in  her  car- 
riage when  she  went  out  for  her  habitual  drives, 
and  in  the  lower  part  of  the  chapel  we  were  placed 
very  near  to  her  seat.  The  unfortunate  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  who  was  shot  during  the  Commune,  usually 
attended  the  imperial  mass,  and  was  so  near  to  me 
that  the  gold  tassels  of  his  vestment  rested  upon  the 
desk  of  the  pew  where  I  knelt,  with  my  pupils  and 
Mesdemoiselles  de  Bassano.  The  Empress,  who  was 
just  before  us,  with  the  Emperor  (and  at  a  later 
period,  the  Prince  Imperial),  never  forgot,  as  she 
rose  from  her  knees  to  go  down  the  aisle,  to  turn 
toward  our  group  with  a  gracious  smile  and  bend; 
the  deep  courtesy,  in  reply,  was  not  easy  to  per- 
form in  the  narrow  space  allotted  to  us. 

The  first  time  that  I  was  able  to  see  the  Empress 
in  private  life  was  at  St.  Cloud,  where  the  de  Tascher 
family  occupied  a  villa  adjoining  the  palace,  with 
an  entrance  to  the  private  grounds,  of  which  we 
had  a  key. 

One  evening  I  had  taken  a  drive  with  the  Duchess, 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIEE  23 

and  on  our  return  she  had  gone  into  the  garden 
with  her  eldest  daughter,  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air,  re- 
questing me  to  order  the  lamps  for  the  drawing- 
room.  I  had  just  laid  my  hand  on  the  bell,  when  I 
heard  a  voice  asking  for  the  Duchess,  and  the  door 
suddenly  opening,  I  saw  a  lady  standing  in  the  en- 
trance. Supposing  her  to  be  a  visitor  from  Paris, 
I  immediately  went  toward  her,  begging  her  to 
come  in  while  I  called  the  Duchess,  who  was  in  the 
garden;  but  I  saw  some  hesitation,  and,  although 
the  room  was  nearly  dark,  a  ray  of  moonlight  resting 
on  her  face  revealed  the  Empress  Eugenie.  I  was 
startled,  and  hardly  knew  what  I  ought  to  do,  paus- 
ing for  a  moment,  on  which  she  hastily  took  flight, 
closing  the  door.  I  ran  to  the  Duchess  :  "  Madame,"  I 
said, "  the  Empress  is  here ! "  She  hastily  came  forward, 
while  the  door  opened  again,  but  this  time  the  Em- 
press was  accompanied  by  the  Due  de  Tascher  and  a 
numerous  suite,  as  she  came  in  quickly,  with  ex- 
tended hands,  which  the  Duchess  kissed.  She  had 
previously  run  on  alone,  leaving  the  others  behind 
her,  and  in  the  anteroom  had  asked  the  servant  on 
duty  if  the  Duchess  was  at  home,  wishing  to  surprise 
her.  The  man,  who  was  half  asleep,  sprang  to  his 
feet  with  evident  trepidation ;  on  seeing  which  she 
exclaimed:  "Do  you  know  me?"  "Certainly — I 
have  the  honor  of  knowing  your  Majesty."  "  Oh ! 
how  tiresome  ! "  she  cried  ("  Comme  e'est  ennuyeux  !  ") ; 
"  everybody  knows  me ! "  She  hastily  opened  the 
door  before  her,  and  saw  that  I  too  recognized  her ; 


24  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

on  which  she  flew  to  the  Duke,  saying,  "Tascher! 
Tascher!  I  cannot  go  in  —  there  is  a  strange  lady!" 
He  answered,  laughing,  that  he  thought  he  knew  who 
that  strange  lady  must  be,  and  that  Her  Majesty 
need  not  be  alarmed,  on  which  she  consented  to  re- 
turn. As  the  Duchess  welcomed  her  warmly,  she 
said  that  she  had  felt  quite  shy  ("  intimidee  ")  when 
she  saw  "madame", — with  a  smiling  bend  toward 
me, — on  which  I  was  presented  in  due  form  to  her 
very  gracious  Majesty.  The  whole  party  then  went 
on  the  terrace  before  the  house,  and,  after  assisting 
in  providing  seats,  I  withdrew,  fearing  to  intrude  on 
their  privacy.  But  in  a  few  minutes  my  pupil  came 
running  in;  the  Empress  had  asked  why  I  had  re- 
tired, and  had  expressed  a  particular  wish  that  I 
should  join  them.  It  was  rather  an  ordeal  to  go 
through,  when  I  found  myself  standing  at  the  top 
of  a  flight  of  steps,  which  I  had  to  descend  in  full 
view  of  the  large  court  circle  before  me ;  the  more  so 
as  there  was  bright  moonlight,  and  I  knew  that  I  must 
remain  standing  till  permission  was  given  to  sit  down. 
But  the  Empress  saw  me  immediately,  and  with  her 
usual  grace  of  manner  desired  me  to  be  seated,  using 
her  habitual  polite  circumlocution  —  "  Will  you  not 
sit  down  ?  "  I  obeyed,  with  the  requisite  low  cour- 
tesy, and  a  most  pleasant  evening  followed,  the 
Empress  chatting  gaily  and  familiarly,  as  she  ener- 
getically dug  up  the  gravel  at  her  feet  with  a  tall 
walking-stick  which  she  held  in  her  hand,  re- 
peatedly addressing  me  personally,  with  marked  af- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  25 

fability.  "When  an  opportunity  occurred,  she  called 
me  to  her  side,  and  gave  me  a  chair  with  her  own 
hand.  In  short,  it  was  impossible  to  show  more 
kindness  and  consideration  than  I  noticed  toward 
every  one  present. 

She  spoke  French  with  a  marked  Spanish  accent, 
and  to  my  surprise  her  voice  had  the  harsh  guttural 
sounds  so  frequent  among  Castilians,  but  which 
seemed  strangely  foreign  to  that  sweet  face,  so  deli- 
cate in  its  loveliness. 

My  feminine  readers  will  perhaps  wish  to  know 
"how  she  was  dressed"  on  this  occasion,  and  I  can 
only  answer,  "As  simply  as  possible."  She  wore  a 
dress  of  a  soft  gray  summer  stuff,  over  a  striped 
blue  and  white  silk  underskirt;  a  loose  mantle  of 
the  same  pale  gray  was  thrown  over  all.  She  held  a 
tall  walking-stick  in  her  hand,  and  wore  a  straw  hat 
of  the  Tyrolese  shape,  with  a  Tyrolese  plume  of  black 
and  white  feathers. 

The  Duchess  offered  tea,  which  was  accepted,  and 
the  whole  party  adjourned  to  the  villa,  where  it  was 
immediately  served.  The  Empress  was  in  high 
spirits,  laughing  and  talking  merrily,  and  seeming 
thoroughly  to  enjoy  her  escape  from  her  usual  tram- 
mels, when  to  the  consternation  of  her  hostess,  and 
her  own  very  evident  annoyance,  the  door  opened, 
and  a  lady,  inhabiting  a  neighboring  villa,  sailed 
in,  followed  by  her  daughter,  both  in  full  toilet. 
She  held  a  high  post  at  court,  but  nothing  on  this 
occasion  called  for  her  presence,  which  was  flagrantly 


26  LIFE  EST  THE  TUILEEIES 

intrusive.  She  explained  that  she  had  heard  the 
voices  in  the  garden,  and  begged  "  to  be  allowed  a 
share  in  the  good  fortune  of  her  neighbors."  A 
chill  had  fallen  on  the  whole  party;  the  Empress, 
suddenly  silent  and  cold,  played  with  her  tea-spoon, 
looking  grave  and  displeased,  while  the  intruder 
talked  of  her  "  beautiful  dahlias,"  which  she  wished 
so  much  to  show  to  Her  Majesty  —  at  nearly  eleven 
o'clock  at  night !  It  was  so  near ;  would  not  Her 
Majesty  stop  on  her  way  back  to  the  palace,  and 
see  the  dahlias? 

The  Empress  evidently  wished  particularly  to  be 
let  alone ;  but  at  last  she  rose  with  an  air  of  weary 
resignation :  "  Well !  let  us  go  and  see  the  dahlias ! " 

The  pleasant  evening  was  over,  and  the  momen- 
tary freedom  which  had  made  it  so  agreeable  was 
cut  short,  merely  because  one  court  lady  was  de- 
termined to  enjoy  the  same  mark  of  favor  that  had 
been  bestowed  on  another  court  lady. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  early  years  of  her  reign 
Queen  Victoria  exclaimed:  "What  is  the  use  of 
being  a  queen,  if  one  cannot  do  as  one  likes?" 
She  soon  was  obliged  to  learn  that,  of  all  women, 
queens  are  those  who  least  do  as  they  like.  The 
Empress  Eugenie  had  wished  to  enjoy  royal  honors, 
and  she,  too,  had  to  learn  that  an  amount  of  re- 
straint for  which  she  was  ill  prepared  by  a  life  of 
absolute  liberty  must  be  the  necessary  consequence 
of  her  high  position.  Etiquette,  though  much  mod- 
ernized, and  consequently  made  less  irksome  than 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  27 

it  was  in  the  days  of  poor  Marie  Antoinette,  yet 
still  stood  in  her  way  on  every  side.  She  could 
not  risk  giving  offense,  and  she  must  court  popu- 
larity. The  bird  which  had  always  flown  freely 
wherever  the  wish  of  the  hour  guided  its  flight  was 
now  in  a  gilded  cage,  tied  down  by  silken  links  as 
difficult  to  break  as  iron  chains. 

She  would  have  wished  to  walk  about  freely, 
without  state  or  ceremony,  except  on  official  oc- 
casions, when  she  did  not  dislike  playing  the  part 
of  Empress;  but  she  could  not  leave  the  palace 
without  a  numerous  suite,  in  a  carriage  and  four 
with  outriders ;  nor  get  rid  of  the  necessity  of  in- 
cessantly bowing  to  the  spectators,  which  she  per- 
formed both  graciously  and  gracefully,  but  with 
unavoidable  weariness.  She  had  twelve  ladies-in- 
waiting,  some  of  whom  were  her  personal  friends; 
others  had  been  chosen  for  political  reasons,  and 
she  did  not  particularly  care  for  them;  but  she 
could  show  no  preference.  Two  ladies  at  a  time 
were  in  waiting, — in  Paris,  for  a  week,  at  the  coun- 
try residences,  for  a  month.  Each  lady,  in  turn,  was 
"  de  grand  service,"  as  it  was  called,  or  in  full  wait- 
ing; that  is,  she  had  a  right  to  go  with  the  Em- 
press in  her  carriage,  and  take  precedence  on  all 
occasions,  while  the  other  followed  in  the  second 
carriage,  with  the  chamberlain  in  waiting.  The 
next  day  matters  were  reversed,  and  the  other  lady 
was  "de  grand  service,"  whether  or  not  the  Em- 
press liked  the  change. 


28  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

In  all  matters  she  was  subjected  to  perpetual 
constraint,  and  forced  to  play  an  artificial  part  ex- 
tremely trying  to  one  not  born  in  the  purple,  and 
of  a  particularly  frank,  straightforward  disposition. 
Those  who  knew  her  as  Mademoiselle  de  Montijo, 
and  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  her  extreme 
independence  of  character,  openly  declared  that  she 
would  never  submit  to  court  trammels,  and  would 
suddenly  break  through  them  in  some  very  ap- 
parent manner.  She  did  not  break  through  them, 
and  she  endured  for  many  years  her  gilded  chains ; 
but  that  she  felt  their  weight  severely  is  undeniable, 
and  she  certainly  found  out  that  her  fairy-land  did 
not  mean  a  paradise. 


CHAPTER  III 

Regulations  of  the  palace  —  The  detectives  —  Inconveniences  of 
the  palace  —  The  painting-room  of  Mademoiselle  Hortense  de 
Tascher  —  Pasini,  the  artist  —  Apartments  of  the  Empress  — 
View  on  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries  —  What  it  was  then  — 
Description  of  the  various  rooms  —  Audiences  granted  by  the 
Empress — High  mass  on  Sundays  —  The  Emperor's  demeanor 
—  The  sermon  —  Etiquette  —  The  wardrobe  regions  above  the 
apartments  of  the  Empress  —  "  Pepa,"  the  Empress's  Spanish 
maid  —  The  jailer's  daughters — Anecdote  of  the  Emperor  — 
The  privy-purse  of  the  Empress. 


ALL  the  inmates  of  the  palace  of  every  rank  were 
xjl  subjected  to  a  sort  of  military  discipline.  The 
gates,  always  guarded  by  sentinels,  were  closed  at 
midnight ;  any  one  returning  after  that  hour  was 
noted  by  the  officer  in  command,  and  reported  the 
next  morning.  Every  day  the  picket  of  guards  was 
changed,  and  a  fresh  password  was  given. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  at  the  Tuileries  I  had 
gone  to  an  evening  party,  with  the  permission  of 
the  Duchess,  escorted  by  some  friends,  who  brought 
me  back  after  the  fatal  hour — of  which,  as  yet,  I 
did  not  know  the  rule.  The  next  morning  I  was 
much  teased,  good-humoredly,  by  the  Due  de  Ta- 
scher as   to  my   delinquencies;    I  had    been   "re- 

«  29 


30  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

ported  to  him  as  having  returned  after  the  gates 
had  been  closed,"  and  he  looked  very  solemn. 

I  was  a  good  deal  startled,  pleading  the  permis- 
sion of  the  Duchess,  and  the  safety  of  my  escort; 
but  after  having  sufficiently  enjoyed  my  alarm  he 
laughed,  and  explained  that  it  was  a  general  rule 
to  keep  the  heads  of  the  different  private  house- 
holds informed  of  the  doings  of  all  those  inhabit- 
ing their  quarters  in  the  palace ;  but  that  I  might 
safely  commit  the  offense  again,  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. There  was,  however,  so  much  trouble 
and  ceremony  attending  the  opening  of  the  gates, 
after  any  such  Cinderella  mishap,  that  I  soon  gave 
up  all  evening  parties  in  case  I  could  not  be  sure  of 
returning  before  the  fatal  hour. 

Besides  the  military  guards  of  the  palace,  there 
was  a  strong  force  of  detectives  always  standing 
about  the  principal  doors,  in  groups,  conversing 
together  carelessly,  with  an  assumed  indifference, 
while  their  sharp  eyes  watched  keenly  all  those 
who  came  and  went.  Every  inmate  of  the  palace 
was,  of  course,  well  known  to  these  men,  who 
were  dressed  to  look  as  much  like  ordinary  gen- 
tlemen as  they  could,  although  the  practised  eye 
quickly  recognized  the  scowling,  sinister  glance, 
and  a  sort  of  disreputable  look,  which  made  the 
contact  of  these  men  what  the  Scotch  would  call 
"uncanny."  The  ladies  of  the  palace  were  often 
surprised  to  receive  bows  in  the  street  from  un- 
known persons,  who  also  would  often  spring  for- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  31 

ward  to  help  theni  in  any  difficulty;  on  such 
occasions  the  rule  was  to  receive  their  advances 
most  graciously.  They  were  not  men  whom  it 
would  have  been  prudent  to  offend  in  any  way 
by  misplaced  haughtiness,  and  it  was  often  really 
convenient  to  hear  from  some  stranger  the  author- 
itative and  unexpected:  "Laissez  passer  madame," 
when  an  uninitiated  ordinary  policeman,  or  sen- 
tinel, was  troublesome. 

The  Due  de  Tascher  kindly  took  me  over  the 
apartments,  shortly  after  my  arrival  at  the  palace. 
It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  Tuileries,  built 
at  different  periods,  and  arranged  for  various  ne- 
cessities, was  not  a  convenient  residence.  Several 
of  the  large  galleries  had  been  cut  up  into  apart- 
ments for  the  use  of  the  numerous  members  of 
Louis  Philippe's  family;  they  were  separated  by 
passages  having  no  means  of  external  light  or  ven- 
tilation, so  that  lamps  burned  day  and  night,  and 
the  air  was  close  and  heavy.  The  different  floors 
communicated  in  the  interior  by  narrow  winding 
staircases,  also  lighted  at  all  times;  so  that  the 
first  impression  to  visitors  was  strangely  lugubri- 
ous and  funereal.  Two  floors  had  also  been  often 
made  out  of  one;  so  that  in  such  cases  the  ceilings 
were  low,  and  the  deep  windows  prevented  the  free 
transmission  of  light,  especially  darkening  the  rooms 
toward  the  north,  looking  on  the  rue  de  Rivoli. 
The  conveniences  of  modern  life  were  very  imper- 
fect.    During   the   greater  part   of    the    Emperor's 


32  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

reign,  there  was  not  even  water  put  in,  and  the 
daily  supply  of  the  inmates  was  brought  up  in 
pails  to  the  various  apartments.  The  sanitary  ar- 
rangements and  drainage  were  very  bad ;  in  the 
upper  regions  inhabited  by  the  servants  the  air 
was  absolutely  pestilential,  as  I  was  able  to  judge 
several  times  a  week;  for  we  had  to  cross  them 
before  reaching  the  painting-room  where  Mademoi- 
selle Hortense  de  Tascher  took  lessons,  given  to  her 
regularly  for  many  years  by  the  well-known  artist 
Pasini,  for  whom  we  all  felt  great  esteem  and  warm 
friendship. 

Pasini,  when  I  first  knew  him,  was  a  young  and 
still  struggling  artist  just  returned  from  Persia, 
whither  he  had  followed  the  French  Legation,  hav- 
ing been  engaged  by  the  minister,  Monsieur  Bouree, 
to  take  sketches  of  the  country.  It  was  there  that 
his  studies  developed  his  peculiar  appreciation  and 
admirable  interpretation  of  Oriental  scenery,  which 
have  now  given  him  fame  and  fortune;  but  he 
was  as  yet  little  known,  and  we  were  enabled  to 
follow  his  rising  career,  step  by  step,  with  deep  in- 
terest, and  ever-increasing  esteem  for  his  private 
character  as  well  as  for  his  artistic  talent. 

The  Empress  occupied  the  first  floor,  looking  to- 
ward the  garden,  so  beautiful  then  with  its  groves 
of  horse-chestnut-trees — now,  alas !  partially  cut 
down  and  replanted,  since  the  ravages  committed 
during  the  siege  and  the  Commune.  In  those  days 
the  foliage   of   the   splendid  old  trees  formed    an 


EMPRESS   EUGENI1     WEARING    \    SPANISH    MANTILLA. 

ENiRAVEO  BY   H.   O.   TIETZE,    FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   BY    BRAUN     CLEMENT  A 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  33 

impenetrable  canopy  overhead,  and  the  great  cen- 
tral avenue  leading  to  the  Champs-Elysees,  with 
the  Arc  de  Trioniphe  in  the  distance,  was  bor- 
dered in  May  by  a  gigantic  wall  of  blossoms  on 
each  side.  It  is  impossible,  at  the  present  time,  to 
form  any  idea  of  what  the  garden  was  then,  with 
the  splendid  palace  in  the  background,  the  walks 
bordered  by  orange-trees  with  their  sweet  perfume, 
the  well-kept  parterres,  the  terraces,  the  statues,  and 
the  elegantly  dressed  crowd  listening  to  the  military 
band. 

The  Empress's  apartments  comprised  ten  rooms, 
communicating  by  a  small  private  staircase  with 
the  Emperor's,  which  were  on  the  ground  floor, 
near  those  afterward  devoted  to  the  use  of  the 
Prince  Imperial.  In  the  first  years  of  the  Em- 
pire the  furniture  of  the  private  apartments  was 
not  remarkable ;  but  at  a  later  period  the  rooms 
used  by  the  Empress  were  arranged  with  exquisite 
taste  and  elegance. 

The  first  salon,  decorated  in  two  shades  of  pale 
green  with  gold  tracings  and  moldings,  contained 
an  immense  mirror,  which  reflected  the  whole  view 
of  the  gardens,  and  of  the  Champs-^lysees,  as  far 
as  the  Arc  de  l'Etoile.  Above  the  doors  were 
painted  tropical  birds  with  bright  plumage.  This 
delightful  and  charming  room,  called  the  Salon 
Vert,  was  used  by  the  chamberlains  and  ladies-in- 
waiting.  It  opened  into  the  Salon  Rose,  decorated 
in    different   shades    of    rose-color.     The   chimney- 


34  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

piece  was  of  white  marble  adorned  with  lapis  la- 
zuli and  gold;  the  doors  were  decorated  with 
paintings  of  flowers;  the  ceiling,  painted  by  Chap- 
lin, represented  the  Arts  paying  homage  to  the 
Empress,  and  a  genius  carrying  the  Prince  Im- 
perial in  the  midst  of  flowers. 

It  was  there  that  visitors  admitted  to  the  honor 
of  a  private  audience  awaited  Her  Majesty's  plea- 
sure. Thence  they  were  ushered  into  the  Salon  Bleu, 
which  was  adorned  with  medallion  portraits  of  the 
Duchesses  de  Cadore,  de  Persigny,  de  Moray,  de 
Malakoff,  the  Princesse  Anna  Murat  (afterwards 
Duchesse  de  Mouchy),  and  the  Comtesse  Walewska. 
Here,  surrounded  by  flowers  and  rare  gems  of  art, 
the  Empress  received  her  guests  with  such  grace 
and  kindness  that  all  felt  immediately  at  home, 
and  formality  soon  disappeared.  The  only  trying 
moment  was  that  of  taking  leave,  etiquette  for- 
bidding visitors  to  retire  till  a  gesture,  or  a  gra- 
cious bend  of  the  head,  authorized  them  to  do  so, 
while  the  good-nature  of  the  Empress,  shrinking 
from  what  seemed  an  unkind  proceeding,  often 
prolonged  the  interview  to  an  extent  which  was 
embarrassing  on  both  sides. 

Beyond  the  Salon  Bleu  was  the  private  room  of 
the  Empress,  with  a  large  writing-table  for  her  use, 
opposite  to  which,  when  I  saw  it,  hung  a  portrait 
of  the  Prince  Imperial  as  an  infant,  wearing  the 
broad  red  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  on  his 
little  white  frock.     About  the  walls,  in  glazed  cabi- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  35 

nets,  were  autographs,  manuscripts,  and  various  his- 
torical relics.  But  the  description  of  one  period 
may  not  apply  to  another,  as  the  Empress  was 
fond  of  making  changes  in  the  arrangements  of  her 
apartments. 

A  small  boudoir,  protected  against  drafts  by  a 
folding-screen  with  glass  panels,  divided  this  room 
from  a  library  surrounded  with  book-cases  of  ebony 
and  gold. 

Then  came  a  large  dressing-room,  an  oratory  in 
which  was  an  altar  concealed  by  folding  doors, 
opened  for  the  celebration  of  the  mass,  but  habitu- 
ally closed;  and  beyond,  the  large  and  magnificent 
bed-room  of  the  Empress. 

During  the  first  years  of  the  Empire,  when  she 
performed  her  private  devotions,  she  went  to  the 
chapel,  which  was  then  closed;  for  she  particularly 
disliked  to  be  observed  or  watched  at  that  time.  At 
a  later  period,  the  above-mentioned  oratory  was  ar- 
ranged so  as  to  enable  her  to  attend  mass  without 
leaving  her  apartments. 

But  on  Sundays,  immediately  after  the  dejeuner 
or  luncheon,  there  was  high  mass,  which  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  attended  with  some  ceremonial,  accom- 
panied by  the  "service  d'honneur,"  the  gentlemen 
in  full  court  uniform,  the  ladies  in  elegant  morning 
dresses.  On  ordinary  Sundays  the  royal  party  were 
in  a  gallery  facing  the  altar ;  but  on  particular  occa- 
sions, and  during  the  whole  of  Lent,  they  came  into 
the  lower  part  of  the  chapel,  where  arm-chairs  cov- 


36  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

ered  with  crimson  velvet,  each  having  its  "prie- 
dieu  "  and  cushions  before  it,  were  prepared  for  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  who  were  received  in  state  by 
the  clergy  at  the  door,  when  the  deep- voiced  official 
announced  in  a  loud  tone: 

"  L'Empereur ! " 

The  Emperor  always  wore  the  uniform  of  a  gen- 
eral, with  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor;  the 
Empress,  exquisitely  dressed,  moved  by  his  side  with 
a  grace  and  dignity  which  none  present  could  forget. 
The  Emperor's  grave  countenance  and  manner  im- 
pressed the  bystanders  with  a  sort  of  awe ;  but  his 
figure  was  ungainly  and  ill-proportioned,  and  his 
swaying  gait  was  unpleasing. 

In  France,  where  men  affect  a  sort  of  indifference 
in  religious  matters  (when  not  positively  hostile),  it 
is  their  general  habit  to  remain  standing  duriDg  the 
services  when  women  kneel. 

Napoleon  III.  never  adopted  this  custom;  he 
always  knelt  and  remained  kneeling  at  all  the  por- 
tions of  the  service  where  it  is  required.  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  real  feelings  of  religious 
fervor,  his  demeanor  was  certainly  perfectly  rever- 
ent, and  he  had  every  appearance  of  following  the 
service  with  all  due  respect. 

The  sermon,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the 
preachers,  was  timed  to  last  exactly  half  an  hour, 
and  began  immediately  after  the  gospel  of  the  mass, 
when  the  gentlemen  in  attendance  turned  the  chairs 
of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  so  as  to  place  them 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPD3E  37 

exactly  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  The  preacher  began 
his  address  with  a  low  bow,  saying :  "  Sire  —  Ma- 
dame," instead  of  the  usual  "  Mes  freres."  The  Em- 
peror sat  motionless,  his  clasped  hands  before  him ; 
but  his  peculiar  habit  of  incessantly  twirling  his 
thumbs  often  disconcerted  the  preacher,  who  was 
further  disquieted  by  the  limited  time  granted  to 
him,  and  by  the  presence  of  an  official,  who  stepped 
forward  and  stood  before  the  altar  as  a  warning  to 
conclude  the  discourse,  which  was  often  wound  up 
with  evident  haste. 

The  imperial  chairs  were  then  turned  toward  the 
altar,  and  the  service  continued  with  exquisite  sing- 
ing and  a  seemingly  angelic  accompaniment  of  harps. 
When  the  little  Prince  was  old  enough  to  go  to  church 
he  had  a  seat  next  to  his  father,  who  often  stooped 
down  to  show  him  the  places  in  his  book.  He  always 
behaved  with  exemplary  gravity,  and  looked  very 
pretty  in  his  black  velvet  suit,  with  red  stockings 
and  a  large  lace  collar,  like  a  young  cavalier  of  the 
olden  time. 

After  mass  was  over,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
passed  out  with  the  same  state  as  when  coming  in  ; 
but  on  leaving  the  chapel,  the  Emperor  spoke  to 
officers  of  different  regiments,  who  usually  stood  in 
the  adjoining  salle,  or  hall,  and  the  Empress  retired 
to  her  apartments,  where  she  gave  audience  in  the 
"  Salon  Bleu  "  to  those  who  had  obtained  that  favor. 

Above  the  apartments  of  the  Empress,  in  one 
of  the   half-floors   previously   alluded   to,   was   the 


38  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILEEIES 

dwelling  of  "Pepa,"  the  former  Spanish  maid  of 
Mademoiselle  de  Montijo ;  she  had  begun  life  very 
humbly  as  an  ordinary  servant,  and  was  now  en- 
titled "  treasurer "  to  the  Empress,  having  the  care 
of  her  jewels  and  wardrobe.  "Pepa"  was  princi- 
pally assisted  by  two  young  ladies,  who  had  been 
well  educated  at  the  school  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
of  St.  Denis,  and  were  far  superior  to  her  in  in- 
telligence and  manners.  They  were  the  daughters 
of  the  jailer  at  Ham,  the  fortress  where  Louis  Napo- 
leon was  imprisoned  for  six  years,  after  his  attempt 
at  Boulogne,  under  Louis  Philippe.  The  jailer  had 
filled  his  unpleasant  mission  with  respect  and  con- 
sideration for  the  future  Emperor,  who  never  forgot 
any  kindness  shown  to  him,  and  who  immediately 
remembered  the  two  young  women,  when  the  house- 
hold of  the  Empress  was  appointed  on  her  marriage. 
The  governor  of  the  fortress  had  been,  of  course, 
in  an  unpleasant  position  after  the  flight  of  the 
prisoner,  for  whom  he  was  responsible,  much  to 
the  alarm  of  his  wife,  who  lamented  over  the  "  in- 
gratitude" of  the  fugitive. 

"  How  could  he  play  us  such  a  trick,"  she  said 
"after  all  our  kindness  to  him?  I  always  sent  him 
such  excellent  broth ! " 

When  the  former  prisoner  became  Emperor  of 
the  French,  he  sent  for  the  governor  of  Ham  and 
his  wife,  who  both  came  into  his  presence  with 
some  trepidation.  The  Emperor,  with  his  usual 
graceful   affability,  then   said   that,   having  experi- 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  39 

enced  the  watchful  care  of  his  person  shown  by 
the  governor  during  his  imprisonment,  he  felt  full 
confidence  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  would  be 
guarded  by  him  in  future,  and  consequently  begged 
that  he  would  accept  the  post  of  governor  of  the 
St.  Cloud  palace. 

Then  turning  to  the  governor's  wife,  he  added, 
with  a  smile,  that  he  hoped  she  would  no  longer 
consider  that  her  good  broth  had  been  wasted. 

The  position  secured  for  the  jailer's  daughters 
ought  to  have  been  a  good  one  for  young  women 
of  their  rank  in  life;  but  the  ill-temper  and  jeal- 
ousy of  "  Pepa  "  greatly  destroyed  their  peace,  and 
quarrels  were  frequent  in  the  wardrobe  regions. 
"Pepa"  had  married  an  officer  in  an  infantry  regi- 
ment, and  was  henceforth  entitled  "Madame  Pol- 
let";  but  she  was  nevertheless  best  known  in  the 
household  as  "  Pepa,"  and  was  as  much  hated  un- 
der one  denomination  as  under  the  other.  She  was 
persistently  supported  by  the  Empress,  who  would 
hear  nothing  against  her,  although  the  manner  in 
which  "  Pepa "  levied  blackmail  on  all  the  trades- 
people employed  by  the  Empress,  and  the  bribes 
which  she  received  on  all  sides  from  those  who 
hoped  to  secure  her  influence,  and  consequently 
tried  to  propitiate  her,  constituted  a  scandalous 
state  of  affairs,  which  greatly  displeased  the  Em- 
peror when  any  instances  came  to  his  knowledge. 
In  fact,  beyond  her  especial  attributions,  the  Em- 
press   did    not    listen    to    any   direct    interference 


40  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

from  "  Pepa,"  or  allow  her  to  act  ostensibly  as 
protectress  to  any  one;  but  that  she  had  over 
her  mistress  the  sort  of  influence  which  a  confi- 
dential maid  easily  acquires  was  evident  from  the 
deference  shown  to  her  by  the  ladies  of  the  pal- 
ace, who  seemed  greatly  to  fear  any  hostility  on 
her  part. 

The  region  over  which  her  particular  authority 
was  exercised  comprised  several  rooms,  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  wardrobes  in  plain  oak,  with  sliding 
panels,  in  which  all  the  various  articles  of  clothing 
were  arranged  in  perfect  order.  Four  lay-figures, 
exactly  measured  to  fit  the  dresses  worn  by  the 
Empress,  were  used  to  diminish  the  necessity  of 
too  much  trying  on,  and  also  to  prepare  her  toilet 
for  the  day.  Orders  were  given  through  a  speak- 
ing-pipe in  the  dressing-room,  and  the  figure  came 
down  on  a  sort  of  lift  through  an  opening  in  the 
ceiling,  dressed  in  all  that  the  Empress  was  about 
to  wear.  The  object  of  this  arrangement  was  to 
save  time,  and  also  to  avoid  the  necessity  of 
crushing  the  voluminous  dresses  of  the  period  in 
the  narrow  back-staircases. 

The  Empress  had  a  privy  purse  of  1,200,000  francs 
a  year  ($240,000) ;  of  this  large  sum,  100,000  francs 
($20,000)  were  devoted  to  her  toilet;  the  rest  was 
chiefly  employed  in  gifts  and  charities.  It  was 
said  at  that  time  that  a  portion  was  invested;  this 
has  been  denied  since,  although  extremely  probable, 
and  certainly  very  justifiable. 


NAPOLEON  111.  AND  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  41 

Twice  a  year  a  certain  number  of  her  dresses 
were  discarded,  and  divided  between  "Pepa"  and 
the  other  two  maids,  the  former  having  half.  This 
was  extremely  profitable,  as  even  the  lace  trim- 
mings were  not  removed — with  the  exception  of 
the  broad  and  very  valuable  lace,  which  was  of 
course  preserved  and  transferred  from  one  dress  to 
another.  I  remember  seeing  "Pepa"  in  full  toi- 
let (probably  one  inherited  from  the  Empress), 
but  looking  unmistakably  plebeian ;  a  small,  dark, 
bony  woman  of  very  Spanish  type,  her  large  hands 
in  white  gloves.  She  spoke  horrible  French,  and 
was  evidently  a  very  ordinary  person  in  every  re- 
spect. She  followed  the  Empress  to  England  after 
the  fall  of  the  Empire,  but  died  shortly  afterward, 
leaving  a  comfortable  fortune  to  her  heirs. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Daily  life  of  the  Court  —  Duties  of  the  ladies-in-waiting — Charities 
of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  —  The  Prince  Imperial  —  Drives 
of  the  Empress  —  A  rheumatic  chamberlain  —  The  evenings  at 
the  Court  —  Dinner  —  The  "service  d'honneur  " —  Etiquette  — 
Habitual  simplicity  of  the  Empress  in  her  morning-dress  —  Her 
usual  evening  toilet  —  The  mechanical  piano  —  Sudden  wish  of 
the  Empress  to  dance  the  "  Lancers" — Mademoiselle  de  Tascher 
summoned  to  teach  the  figures  —  Difficulties  caused  by  petty 
court  jealousies  —  Late  hours  of  the  Empress  —  Anecdote  of  the 
Emperor  —  His  amiable  disposition  in  private  life  —  Impulsive 
nature  of  the  Empress. 


"  T)EPA  and  her  assistants,"  of  course,  lived  at 
_L  the  palace,  but  the  ladies-in-waiting  did  not 
sleep  at  the  Tuileries  when  the  court  was  in 
Paris.  They  were  fetched,  in  a  carriage  devoted  to 
their  use,  for  their  hours  of  duty,  which  began 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoou.  They  awaited 
her  Majesty's  pleasure  in  the  "Salon  Vert,"  where 
the  "  service  d'honneur "  assembled,  and  where  the 
ladies  kept  their  books,  writing-materials,  and 
needlework.  After  their  usual  drive  with  the  Em- 
press, they  were  taken  to  their  homes  for  their 
evening  toilet;  and  returned  to  the  palace  in 
full  dress  for  the  dinner,  which  was  served  at 
half-past  seven.  The  dejeuner,  or  midday  meal, 
was   at    half -past    eleven;    in   Paris,  the  Emperor 

42 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  43 

and  Empress  partook  of  it  alone  till  the  Prince 
Imperial  was  old  enough  to  join  them ;  but  at  the 
country  residences  the  "service  d'honneur"  was 
admitted  to  both  meals,  with,  also,  the  guests 
staying  there  on  a  visit.  After  the  "dejeuner," 
the  Emperor  usually  followed  the  Empress  to  her 
private  room,  where  the  little  Prince  was  brought, 
and  where  they  enjoyed  family  life  like  ordinary 
mortals,  for  a  short  respite.  The  Empress  then 
admitted  her  private  secretary,  and  examined  with 
him  the  innumerable  petitions  received  daily.  Both 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  were  generous  in  their 
charities — the  Emperor  even  to  excess;  it  has  been 
stated  that  his  various  gifts  and  grants  amounted 
to  a  daily  sum  of  10,000  francs  ($2000). 

When  the  time  came  for  the  daily  drive,  the 
ladies  and  the  "  service  d'honneur  "  in  general  were 
summoned  to  attend  the  Empress,  who  went  out 
in  an  open  carriage  and  four,  with  postilions  and 
outriders  in  green  and  gold  liveries;  an  equerry 
rode  by  the  carriage-door.  She  was  always  smiling, 
graciously  bowing,  and  invariably  putting  on  a  pair 
of  apparently  tight-fitting  new  gloves,  a  slight  de- 
reliction from  imperial  etiquette,  which  was  often 
remarked.  The  lady-in-waiting  who  was  "  de  grand 
service"  sat  by  her  side  in  the  carriage;  a  second 
carriage  followed  with  another  lady  and  a  chamber- 
lain. My  young  charges  always  ran  to  the  window 
when  the  drums  beat  the  salute,  and  if  the  cham- 
berlain in  the  second  carriage  was  busily  engaged 


44  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILERIES 

in  gathering  wraps  around  him,  they  exclaimed, 
laughing:  "There  is  papa!"  for  the  Due  de  Tascher, 
being  very  rheumatic,  particularly  disliked  the  open 
carriages  in  winter  weather. 

The  young  Prince  Imperial,  attended  by  his  gov- 
erness, and  afterward  by  his  tutor,  was  always 
accompanied  by  a  military  escort,  which  was  con- 
sidered necessary  for  his  safety;  but  all  hearts 
warmed  to  the  pretty  boy,  who  so  gracefully  raised 
his  little  cap  and  smiled  so  confidingly  and  so  hap- 
pily. The  Parisians,  even  those  of  the  lowest  orders, 
still  speak  with  affection  and  regret  of  "le  petit 
Prince." 

The  dinner  was  served  in  the  "  Salon  de  Louis 
XIV.";  but  the  "service  d'honneur"  assembled  in 
the  "  Salon  d'Apollon  "  (where  the  evenings  were  ha- 
bitually spent),  to  await  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
who  came  in  together.  "When  the  silent  bend  of  an 
official  announced  that  all  was  ready,  the  Emperor 
gave  his  arm  to  the  Empress,  and  both,  passing  out 
first,  took  their  seats  at  the  center  of  the  dinner- 
table,  side  by  side,  the  others  following,  according 
to  rank  and  precedence.  The  gentlemen  wore  either 
their  uniforms  or  the  court-dress,  which  differed  but 
little  from  the  ordinary  evening  coat,  but  with  a  lin- 
ing of  white  moire  silk.  The  ladies  wore  low-made 
evening  dress ;  but  there  was  greater  indulgence  on 
the  part  of  the  kind  imperial  hosts  than  is  usually 
found  in  courts;  if  really  needful,  in  consequence 
of  indisposition,  a  pelerine  of  white  quilted  satin  and 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  45 

sleeves  of  the  same  were  tolerated  as  a  protection 
for  the  shoulders  and  arms.  The  Empress  usually 
wore  velvet  of  rich,  dark  colors,  which  was  particu- 
larly becoming  to  her  exquisitely  fair  complexion. 
The  Emperor  liked  to  see  her  richly  dressed,  and 
often  objected  to  the  extreme  simplicity  of  her  morn- 
ing attire,  which,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  was  often 
too  fanciful  to  be  appropriate  to  her  high  position. 
Everything  she  wore  was  well  made,  and  perfectly 
neat ;  her  hair  was  beautifully  dressed ;  but,  for 
instance,  she  liked  the  comfort  of  loose  garibaldi 
bodices  of  red  flannel,  with  a  plain  black  silk  skirt, 
over  a  red  flannel  underskirt ;  all  of  which  was  con- 
cealed, when  she  went  out,  by  a  handsome  cloak  and 
the  fur-coverings  of  the  open  carriages.  I  have  seen 
her  wear,  within  the  palace,  a  tight  jacket  of  knitted 
black  wool,  with  a  gray  border,  over  the  silk  and 
crape  dress  which  she  wore  as  second  mourning  for 
her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Alva.  It  was  a  sort  of  wrap 
which  one  would  expect  to  see  on  the  shoulders  of 
some  old  crone  bending  over  her  fire,  rather  than  on 
the  graceful  figure  of  the  beautiful  Empress  of  the 
French.  I  might  quote  other  instances — such  as 
her  wearing  a  loose  jacket  of  a  small  black  and 
white  check,  in  coarse  woolen  stuff  bordered  with 
red  flannel. 

After  dinner  the  court  adjourned  to  the  splendid 
room  called  "  Salon  d'Apollon,"  where  coffee  was 
handed  round ;  the  Emperor  took  his  cup  standing, 
accompanied  by  cigarettes,  which  it  was  his  habit 


46  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

to  smoke  incessantly.  The  ladies  present  remained 
standing  till  they  were  requested  to  sit  down;  but 
the  Emperor's  courtesy  did  not  allow  them  to  wait 
long  before  receiving  the  requisite  authorization.  The 
gentlemen,  however,  stood  upright  during  the  whole 
evening,  and  many  found  this  a  trial.  The  evenings 
were  very  heavy  in  general,  a  fact  which  those  ad- 
mitted to  them  did  not  attempt  to  conceal. 

In  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe,  Queen  Marie  Amelie 
and  the  princesses,  her  daughters-in-law,  sat  round  a 
table  with  needlework,  which  at  least  provided  occu- 
pation ;  but  during  the  Empire  conversation  was  the 
principal  resource,  and  this  often  nagged.  The  Em- 
peror was  benevolent  but  silent ;  the  Empress  tried 
to  talk  incessantly,  with  real  or  feigned  vivacity; 
sometimes,  in  the  young  days  of  the  Empire,  she 
proposed  dancing,  and  one  of  the  gentlemen  present 
turned  the  handle  of  a  mechanical  piano,  playing 
dancing  tunes.  I  remember  that  one  evening,  shortly 
after  my  arrival  at  the  palace,  we  were  all  seated 
quietly  in  the  salon  of  the  Duke's  mother  (Princesse) 
Comtesse  de  Tascher,  after  dinner,  when  suddenly 
the  chamberlain-in-waiting  appeared:  the  Empress 
wished  to  dance  the  "  lancers  "  in  vogue  that  winter, 
and  nobody  present  knew  the  figures.  It  had  been 
suggested  that  Mademoiselle  de  Tascher,  who  habitu- 
ally attended  the  dancing  lessons  at  the  British  Em- 
bassy, was  probably  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
new  dance — and  she  must  come  immediately  to  teach 
everybody.    The  Duchess,  who  was  going  to  a  pri- 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  47 

vate  ball,  protested  vehemently  that  her  daughter 
was  a  mere  school-girl,  not  yet  introduced  into  soci- 
ety ;  she  was  not  dressed  appropriately  for  such  an 
unexpected  honor ;  she  could  not  go  without  her  mo- 
ther, etc.  The  chamberlain,  with  languid  good  breed- 
ing and  perfect  indifference,  coolly  answered : 

"  All  I  know  is  that  she  is  to  come  immediately, 
and  must  not  stop  to  dress ;  I  suppose  you  may  come 
too,  if  you  like,  but  you  must  not  keep  her  Majesty 
waiting."  So  the  Duchess  and  her  daughter  followed 
the  chamberlain,  Mademoiselle  de  Tascher  consid- 
erably vexed  at  having  no  time  to  change  her  dark- 
green  silk  dress  for  more  becoming  attire ;  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it,  and  she  must  obey.  She  was 
warmly  received  by  the  Empress  (dressed  in  crimson 
velvet  and  diamonds),  gave  the  required  lesson  in 
the  "  lancers,"  danced  with  the  Emperor,  who  broke 
her  fan,  and  apologized,  while  she,  though  a  "  school- 
girl," replied,  in  courtier-like  phrase,  that  she  was 
"too  happy  to  have  such  a  remembrance  of  His 
Majesty,"  who,  unfortunately,  forgot  all  about  it  the 
next  day,  and  thus  omitted  to  send  her  a  more  plea- 
sant remembrance.  At  ten  o'clock,  according  to  cus- 
tom, a  tea-table  was  brought  in,  with  a  tray  of  cool 
drinks  for  those  who  preferred  them.  The  Empress, 
in  high  spirits,  made  the  tea  herself,  instead  of  leav- 
ing the  matter  to  her  ladies,  and  my  "  school-girl " 
greatly  enjoyed  the  whole  adventure. 

The  Empress  would  have  liked  to  spend  the  even- 
ing sometimes  with  the  do  Tascher  family,  whose 


48  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

cheerfulness,  as  she  said  once  in  my  presence,  "  would 
cure  the  jaundice  " ;  but  the  question  of  petty  court 
jealousies  again  stood  in  her  way;  she  visited  them, 
but  only  at  long  intervals,  when  some  apparent  rea- 
son justified  the  exception.  Usually,  after  taking  tea, 
the  Emperor  retired  "to  transact  business  with  his 
private  secretary,"  as  was  stated ;  what  that  "  busi- 
ness" was,  on  too  frequent  occasions,  had  better  not 
be  too  closely  examined.  The  Empress  usually  re- 
mained till  about  half -past  eleven,  when  she  disap- 
peared, and  as  the  last  fold  of  her  train  left  the 
doorway,  all  the  men  present,  who  had  been  standing 
the  whole  evening,  uttered  a  sigh  of  relief  as  they 
threw  themselves  on  the  sofas,  with  undisguised 
satisfaction. 

The  Due  de  Tascher,  who  suffered  from  rheumatic 
gout,  found  this  obligation  of  etiquette  particularly 
trying,  and  being  privileged  in  many  respects,  he  fre- 
quently slipped  into  the  next  room,  where  he  could 
sit  down,  and  even  indulge  in  a  momentary  doze, 
with  impunity.  Often,  on  returning  from  some  thea- 
ter with  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  family,  I  met  him 
coming,  wearily,  from  the  imperial  quarters,  and  as 
he  said  "  good  night,"  he  would  add,  with  a  groan : 
"  There  is  no  way  of  inducing  the  Empress  to  go  to 
bed!"  Her  personal  attendants  could  say  much 
more  on  the  subject,  for  even  after  retiring  to  her 
private  apartments,  she  often  lingered  till  the  small 
hours  of  the  night. 

One  evening,  as  the  Duke  afterward  told  me,  he 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  49 

had  escaped  to  the  neighboring  room,  where  he  habit- 
ually took  refuge,  and  was  seated,  writing  a  letter, 
when  the  Emperor  suddenly  came  in.  Of  course,  the 
Duke  immediately  sprang  to  his  feet,  but  the  Emper- 
or good-humoredly  desired  him  not  to  disturb  him- 
self, but  to  go  on  with  his  letter.  On  such  occasions, 
the  rule  is  to  obey  without  any  objection,  the  sov- 
ereign's will  being  considered  paramount.  The  Duke, 
consequently,  sat  down  and  quietly  continued  his  let- 
ter, though  much  discomfited  by  the  presence  of  the 
Emperor,  who  paced  the  room  to  and  fro,  smoking 
his  cigarette,  and  humming  a  tune.  The  Duke,  how- 
ever, leisurely  finished  and  folded  his  letter,  sealing 
it  deliberately  with  the  large  official  seal  in  red  wax, 
and  carefully  adding  the  stamp  of  the  Household. 
The  Emperor  then  drew  near: 

"  Have  you  finished,  Tascher  ? " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"Quite  finished?" 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

" Then — I  may  take  the  inkstand?" 

The  good-natured  simplicity  of  the  act  was  ex- 
tremely characteristic.  There  never  was  a  more 
amiable  man  in  private  life  than  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon III.,  or  one  more  absolutely  unpretending.  His 
constant  gentleness,  his  unvarying  patient  kindness, 
were  only  too  much  preyed  upon  by  many  of  those 
around  him ;  but  he  was  certainly  deeply  loved  by 
all  who  were  in  habitual  personal  contact  with  him : 
more  loved  than  was  the  Empress  Eugenie,  notwith- 


50  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

standing  her  personal  charms.  She  was  extremely- 
good-natured,  thoroughly  natural,  devoid  of  haughti- 
ness (a  great  merit  in  such  a  position),  but  impulsive 
and  hot-tempered ;  too  sincere,  too  straightforward, 
to  conceal  her  varying  impressions ;  withal,  fanciful, 
and  tenacious  in  her  fancies,  which  often  irritated 
those  who  had  to  yield  to  her  wishes  despite  difficul- 
ties and  inconvenience.  "One  of  the  Empress's 
whims ! "  was  often  the  comment  of  her  attendants, 
down  to  the  domestic  servants  of  the  palace.  The 
Emperor,  always  quiet,  and  even  apathetic,  disturbed 
no  one ;  but  if  an  appeal  were  made  to  his  feelings, 
he  could  not  resist.  There  was  a  sort  of  tender- 
hearted, sentimental  softness  in  his  nature,  which 
recalled  the  "  sensibility  "  of  bygone  days ;  probably 
inherited  from  his  mother,  Queen  Hortense.  This 
often  led  him  astray,  and  is  the  real  explanation  of 
many  errors.  He  was  far  from  being  deliberately 
false,  as  has  been  so  often  asserted;  but,  unfortu- 
nately, he  was  more  a  man  of  feeling  than  a  man  of 
principle.  This  led  to  weakness  and  vacillation; 
though,  like  many  others  whose  natures  are  too 
yielding,  when  he  had  finally  taken  a  decision,  he 
was  firm,  even  to  obstinacy.  Any  one  more  unlike 
the  blood-thirsty  tyrant  depicted  by  Victor  Hugo 
and  other  political  adversaries,  could  scarcely  be  im- 
agined. The  sight  of  the  battle-field  of  Solferino 
had  left  on  his  mind  such  an  impression  of  horror  as 
to  destroy  all  dreams  of  military  glory,  and  it  was 
with  the  greatest  unwillingness  that  he  was  drawn 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  51 

into  the  wars  that  followed,  principally,  alas !  through 
the  pertinacious  influence  of  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
who  had  not  seen  a  battle-field,  and  who  only  knew 
the  conventional  pictures  of  glory  and  heroism,  with- 
out their  fearful  cost. 

The  Empress  was  extremely  agreeable  and  good- 
natured,  but  there  was  no  softness  in  her  character. 
Even  with  regard  to  those  dearest  to  her, — the  Em- 
peror and  her  son, — she  was  influenced  more  by  a 
chivalrous,  romantic  ideal,  than  by  any  natural  ten- 
derness. Her  aim  was  to  show  herself  a  Roman  wife 
and  mother,  and  this  led  her,  on  many  occasions,  to 
a  sort  of  apparent  harshness,  which  caused  her  to  be 
misjudged. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Emperor's  drives  —  His  opinion  of  mankind  in  general  —  The 
special  police  attached  to  the  Emperor's  person  —  Alessandri, 
the  detective  —  The  Orsini  attempt  on  the  Emperor's  life  — 
Impression  at  the  Tuileries  —  The  return  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  —  Letter  from  the  Marquis  of  Waterford  —  My  life 
at  the  Tuileries  —  Games  of  chess  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Boiu'ges  —  Costume  balls  —  Banquet  on  the  marriage  of  Prince 
Napoleon  with  the  Princess  Clotilde  of  Savoy  —  The  ball  —  A 
waltz  of  the  Emperor  with  the  Princess  rendered  impossible  — 
Costume  of  the  Empress. 


THE  Emperor  usually  went  out  in  a  phaeton  or 
brake,  which  he  drove  himself,  attended  only  by 
one  gentleman,  and  two  grooms  in  livery.  When  the 
peculiar  beat  of  the  drums  announced  the  passage  of 
any  member  of  the  imperial  family,  a  crowd,  always 
sprinkled  with  detectives,  gathered  before  the  gates, 
and  as  the  drums  beat  the  salute,  "  One,  two — one, 
two,  three — one,  two — one,  two,  three,"  the  Emperor 
passed  out,  slightly  touching  his  hat,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  cries  of  "  Vive  l'Empereur ! "  His  face, 
especially  during  the  last  years  of  the  Empire,  was 
always  grave  and  careworn,  but  impenetrable,  and 
as  expressionless  as  a  mask. 

The  old  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  related 
that  in  the  beginning  of  the  Empire,  when  he  was 

52 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  53 

once  driving  out  with  the  Emperor,  he  noticed,  with 
great  surprise,  his  cold,  calm  demeanor  in  the  midst 
of  the  absolutely  delirious  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
was  greeted  by  the  people ;  and  using  the  freedom  of 
his  privileged  position  as  a  relation  and  an  old 
friend,  he  expressed  his  astonishment  that  the  Em- 
peror seemed  to  feel  so  little  moved  or  pleased  at 
such  a  reception.  The  Emperor,  with  his  calm 
smile,  gravely  answered :  "  It  is  because  I  know  man- 
kind, Tascher."  ("  C'est  que  je  connais  les  hommes, 
Tascher.")  The  storm  of  abuse  and  calumny  which 
followed  his  reverses  proved  how  true  was  his  appre- 
ciation of  the  real  value  of  such  demonstrations. 

When  the  Emperor  thus  left  the  palace  without 
any  apparent  state,  an  unpretending  coupe  or 
brougham  was  always  seen  to  follow  at  a  short 
distance;  this  contained  the  chief  of  the  police  at- 
tached to  the  Emperor's  person,  whose  myrmidons 
were  scattered  along  the  way.  There  was  one  espe- 
cially, a  Corsican  named  Alessandri,  who  was  de- 
voted to  the  Emperor  with  a  sort  of  canine  fidelity, 
and  was   alwavs  near  him  when  he  went  out;   so 

v  7 

that  to  the  initiated  the  presence  of  Alessandri  was 
symptomatic  of  the  approach  of  the  sovereign.  He 
always  paced  the  pavement  before  the  Tuileries  till 
the  Emperor's  phaeton  came  out,  and  daily  we  met 
liitn  as  we  left  the  palace  for  our  usual  walk.  I 
remember  one  very  cold  day  going  out  with  the 
Princess  von  Thurn  und  Taxis  (who  had  been  my 
eldest  pupil) ;    we  were  both  wrapped  in  long  cloaks 


54  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

falling  to  the  ground  and  wore  double  veils,  so  that 
I  said  to  the  Princess:  "We  shall  not  be  recog- 
nized to-day ! "  Scarcely  had  I  spoken,  when,  as 
we  stepped  under  the  arcades  of  the  Rue  de  Ri- 
voli,  we  met  Alessandri.  One  glance,  and  his  hat 
was  off,  with  a  low  bow.  The  acuteness  of  those 
men  was  wonderful. 

It  was  Alessandri  who  arrested  the  would-be  as- 
sassin, Pianori,  and  who  disabled  him  by  the  ready 
use  of  his  Corsican  stiletto.  It  was  Alessandri  who, 
on  the  terrible  night  of  the  Orsini  explosions,  for- 
cibly drew  the  Emperor  and  Empress  from  the 
shattered  carriage  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and 
confusion,  the  cries  of  the  wounded,  and  the  strug- 
gles of  the  fallen  horses  of  the  escort,  crying: 

"  Sire,  Madame,  descendez  ! " 

There  was  no  time  for  ceremony ;  the  strong  hand 
of  the  faithful  Corsican  disengaged  them  from  the 
wreck,  and  dragged  them  into  the  opera-house, 
where  at  least  they  were  safe. 

Many  persons  thoughtlessly  criticized  as  unfeeling 
the  presence  of  the  imperial  party  at  the  opera  after 
such  a  terrible  catastrophe.  But  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  explosion  had  torn  up  the  pave- 
ment, and  extinguished  the  gas,  and  that  there  were 
many  victims  to  be  cared  for,  and  many  precautions 
to  be  taken  before  the  Emperor  and  Empress  could 
safely  return  to  the  imperial  home,  where  on  that 
eventful  night  all  was  anxiety  and  terror. 

The  Comte  de  Tascher  was  suffering  from  a  bad 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  55 

attack  of  gout,  and  after  dinner  we  were  all  assem- 
bled in  his  room,  when  we  heard  the  drums  beating 
the  imperial  salute,  and,  going  to  the  window,  we  saw 
the  carriages  with  their  large  lamps  at  the  four 
corners,  and  an  escort  of  lancers.  The  Emperor 
and  Empress  were  going  to  the  opera,  with  the 
Duke  of  Saxe-Cobnrg,  brother  to  Prince  Albert, 
the  consort  of  Queen  Victoria.  I  remember  feeling 
at  the  time  one  of  those  inexplicable  misgivings 
which  all  have  experienced ;  I  disliked  this  an- 
nounced gala  evening  at  the  opera,  remembering  his- 
torical examples  of  tragic  events.  But  the  impres- 
sion was  evanescent,  and  when  we  were  dismissed, 
because  the  invalid  wished  to  rest,  Robert  de  Tascher 
came  with  his  sisters  to  our  rooms,  and  there  we 
were  spending  a  merry  evening,  when  the  Comtesse 
Stephanie  suddenly  entered,  pale  as  death. 

"  Something  dreadful  has  happened — there  has 
been  an  attempt  on  the  Emperor's  life — they  are 
bringing  back  killed  and  wounded  soldiers." 

"With  one  bound,  Robert  de  Tascher  was  gone  ;  he 
soon  came  back  to  say  that  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press were  uninjured,  but  there  were  many  victims. 
Shells  had  been  thrown,  and  the  explosion  had  been 
terrific. 

I  immediately  thought  of  the  Due  de  Tascher,  who 
was  not  in  waiting,  and  who  had  gone  with  the 
Duchesse  to  another  theater.  I  suggested  that  he 
ought  to  be  told  immediately;  Robert  de  Tascher 
thanked  me  for  reminding  him,  and  was  off  in  a 


56  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

moment.  The  Duke,  horrified  at  the  news,  went 
immediately  to  the  opera,  where  he  found  the  Em- 
peror and  Empress  in  the  retiring-rooni  behiud  the 
imperial  box.  The  white  satin  dress  of  the  Empress 
was  stained  with  blood,  but  she  seemed  perfectly 
calm,  as  she  extended  her  hand  to  him,  sayiug 
gravely:  "  Well,  Charles,  you  see  what  life  is  worth." 
The  Emperor  was  far  less  calm  than  his  wife;  he 
seemed  much  excited  and  deeply  moved.  That 
night,  oue  hundred  and  fifty-six  victims  had  suffered 
for  his  sake,  in  the  attempt  to  take  his  life,  and  the 
magnitude  of  the  catastrophe  filled  him  with  horror. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  Tuileries,  all  were  awaiting 
the  return  of  the  imperial  party  with  the  greatest 
anxiety. 

What  a  triumphant  return  it  was !  Every  house 
on  the  way  was  illuminated  up  to  the  very  sky- 
lights. In  the  street,  a  dense  crowd  was  swelling 
and  surging  about  the  carriage,  and  as  it  slowly 
advanced  at  a  foot-pace,  the  prolonged  roar  of  the 
multitude  was  heard  like  the  sound  of  ocean  waves 
coming  from  afar,  and  getting  louder  and  louder  as 
the  carriage  drew  near — "Vive  l'Empereur!" 

All  the  attendants  and  ladies  were  grouped  at  the 
door  to  receive  those  who  had  borne  the  trial  so 
bravely ;  but  as  the  Empress  crossed  the  threshold, 
for  the  first  time  her  undaunted  spirit  failed  her, 
and  throwing  herself  into  the  arms  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Bassano,  she  burst  into  tears. 

Some   time   after   this   terrible   event,   the  chief 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  57 

secretary  of  the  Empress  (now  deceased)  came  to  my 
rooms  one  morning  with  a  letter,  which  he  asked 
me  to  interpret  for  him;  it  was  in  English,  and 
although  he  thought  he  had  gathered  the  sense,  as 
the  matter  seemed  important,  he  wished  to  be  cer- 
tain that  he  was  not  mistaken.  It  was  addressed 
to  the  Empress;  but  according  to  the  general  rule 
in  courts,  all  ordinary  letters  were  opened  and  exam- 
ined before  being  presented  to  her. 

I  saw  immediately  that  the  signature  which  had 
puzzled  the  secretary  was  that  of  the  well-known 
Irish  peer,  the  Marquis  of  Waterford.  He  wrote  to 
warn  the  Empress  that,  to  his  certain  knowledge, 
five  hundred  conspirators  had  sworn  to  risk  their 
lives  in  turn,  if  necessary,  to  take  that  of  the  Em- 
peror, unless  he  immediately  gave  some  assurance 
of  his  intention  of  liberating  Italy.  Lord  Waterford 
pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Italians,  and  entreated  the 
Empress  to  use  her  influence  over  the  Emperor  to 
induce  him  to  take  it  in  hand. 

The  communication  was  a  serious  one,  and  the 
secretary  seemed  much  struck  by  it.  Of  course  I 
told  no  one  of  what  I  had  read,  not  even  the  family 
with  whom  I  resided,  and  I  never  heard  what  im- 
pression had  been  produced  on  the  Empress  or  the 
Emperor.  But  the  Italian  war  began  to  loom  in  the 
future  before  long,  and  there  were  no  more  attempts 
on  the  Emperor's  life.  All  the  preceding  conspiracies 
had  been  organized  by  Italians.  Not  one  Frenchman 
ever  tried  to  injure  the  Emperor,  who  was  the  peo- 


58  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILERIES 

pie's  Mend,  and  who,  till  the  fatal  war  with  Ger- 
many, when  the  nation  was  maddened  by  its  fearful 
reverses,  was  universally  popular  among  the  work- 
ing classes.  Even  now,  when  complaints  are  made 
of  hard  times  and  penury,  they  always  end  with: 
"  It  was  not  so  in  the  Emperor's  time !  Everything 
was  prosperous  then !  " 

His  real  adversaries  belonged  to  a  higher  class  of 
society. 

As  time  went  by,  the  duties  of  my  situation  at 
the  palace,  though  still  arduous,  became  gradually 
lighter,  while  the  kindness  shown  to  me  from  the 
beginning  of  my  residence  there  ripened  into  inti- 
macy and  confidential  friendship.  My  eldest  pupil, 
being  fully  introduced  into  society,  took  up  less  and 
less  of  my  time,  as  she  shared  more  completely  her 
mother's  occupations  and  social  duties,  while  the 
routine  of  my  daily  life  was  as  agreeably  diversified 
as  possible.  On  innumerable  occasions  I  shared  the 
privileges  of  the  household,  including  private  views  of 
various  sights  or  exhibitions,  reserved  seats  at  the 
Emperor's  reviews,  the  Emperor's  boxes  at  the  various 
operas  or  theaters,  where  I  accompanied  the  ladies  of 
the  family  once  or  twice  every  week,  with  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  imperial  carriage,  and  comfortable 
seats  in  boxes  like  small  boudoirs.  Occasionally, 
when  some  other  engagement  had  prior  claims,  the 
entrance-ticket  was  handed  over  to  me,  and  the  pri- 
vate family  carriage  placed  at  my  disposal,  so  that 
I  could  take  friends  with  me  and  go  independently. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  59 

The  apartments  of  the  palace  were  connected  by 
long  passages  with  doors  of  communication,  so  that 
it  was  possible  to  go  all  round  the  Tuileries  and  the 
Louvre  without  leaving  the  buildings,  which  led  to 
much  pleasant  intercourse  with  our  next  neighbors 
on  each  side,  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges  and  the 
family  of  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Bassano,  whose 
daughters  were  the  intimate  friends  and  constant 
companions  of  my  youngest  pupil,  and  of  about 
the  same  age.  The  Archbishop  held  an  ecclesiastical 
post  of  honor  in  the  household,  which  called  for  his 
presence  during  a  portion  of  the  winter  season.  He 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  de  Tascher  family, 
and  an  almost  daily  visitor  —  a  kind,  genial  old  man, 
whom  we  all  loved,  of  most  venerable  appearance, 
with  his  perfectly  white  hair  and  his  gold  episcopal 
cross  resting  on  his  purple  cassock.  He  was  pas- 
sionately fond  of  the  game  of  chess,  and  delighted 
in  playing  with  me,  or  with  one  of  my  pupils  to 
whom  I  had  taught  the  game;  but  he  was  so  un- 
happy when  checkmated,  that,  according  to  the 
laughing  suggestion  of  the  old  Count,  I  habitually 
allowed  him  to  get  the  best  of  the  game,  only  keep- 
ing up  the  battle  sufficiently  to  give  interest  to  the 
victory;  but  nothing  could  induce  my  pupil  to  do 
likewise.  So  the  good  Archbishop  used  to  say,  in 
perfect  good  faith,  but  rather  ruefully :  "  I  am  really 
improving  as  a  player;  I  can  now  beat  'Albion'; 
but  I  do  not  know  how  it  is,  I  cannot  manage  little 
Hortense ! " 


60  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

The  Count  would  then  direct  a  mischievous  glance 
toward  me,  and  rub  his  hands  with  great  glee. 

Every  winter  fancy-costume  balls,  particularly 
liked  by  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  were  given  by 
the  Duchesse  de  Tascher  and  Duchesse  de  Bassano, 
or  by  the  ministers  at  their  various  official  resi- 
dences. I  always  went  to  these  balls,  usually  accom- 
panying the  (Princess)  Comtesse  de  Tascher,  and 
wearing  myself  the  convenient  disguise  of  a  dom- 
ino. At  the  court  official  balls  of  the  same  kind,  I 
was  admitted  (by  an  especial  and  very  exceptional 
permission  of  the  Empress)  to  the  gallery  surround- 
ing the  splendid  "  Salle  des  Marechaux,"  where  the 
imperial  family  were  seated  in  state.  I  was  gener- 
ally alone  there,  or  with  my  youngest  pupil,  and 
greatly  enjoyed  the  magnificent  sight. 

From  this  gallery  I  saw  the  banquet,  on  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Princess  Clotilde,  daughter  of  the  King 
of  Italy,  with  Prince  Napoleon,  and  the  fancy-costume 
ball  which  soon  followed,  where  the  young  princess 
was  dressed  in  a  costume  taken  from  a  historical 
portrait  in  the  Louvre  gallery  which  was  more  ar- 
tistic than  suitable  for  her  girlish  figure  and  youth- 
ful appearance,  with  such  a  farthingale  that  her 
ladies  were  obliged  to  spread  the  crimson  velvet 
robe  over  three  chairs.  The  Emperor  tried  to  dance 
with  her,  but  it  was  noticed  by  the  superstitious, 
as  an  unfavorable  omen  with  regard  to  the  Italian 
alliance,  that  he  was  repeatedly  obliged  to  stop  be- 
cause the  velvet  folds  wound  around  him  in  such 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  61 

a  manner  as  to  paralyze  his  movements,  until  at 
last  lie  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  attempt  in  despair, 
and  to  take  her  back  to  her  seat  with  a  bow  and 
a  smile. 

The  Empress  looked  particularly  beautiful  that 
evening;  she  wore  a  Marie  Antoinette  head-dress 
of  powdered  hair,  with  a  small  round  cap  of  scarlet 
satin  adorned  with  emeralds  and  diamonds,  sur- 
mounted by  a  heron's  plume.  Her  costume  was  of 
a  magnificent  Lyons  silk  stuff  of  black  and  gold, 
opening  at  the  sides  over  a  scarlet  satin  under- 
skirt; the  bodice,  cut  square,  was  bordered  with 
large  emeralds  and  diamonds. 

The  Princess  Clotilde  was  too  much  like  her 
father  to  possess  beauty,  and  was  no  rival  for  the 
Empress  Eugenie ;  but  her  royal  bearing  and  grace- 
ful figure  were  greatly  admired.  Unfortunately, 
the  latter  did  not  long  retain  the  elegance  of  its 
lines. 


CHAPTER    VI 

The  Palais  Royal  —  The  imperial  family  —  Unpleasant  relations  — 
Prince  Jerome  —  Prince  Napoleon  —  Princess  Mathilde  —  Pierre 
Bonaparte  —  His  sister  Letitia  —  Prince  Napoleon's  speech  in 
the  Senate  —  Scene  with  the  Emperor  —  Ball  at  the  Hotel 
d'Albe — The  Empress  and  the  page  —  Special  invitation  sent 
to  me  by  the  Empress — Princess  Mathilde  and  Princess  Clo- 
tilde  —  Contrast — The  dresses  of  both — Intended  costume  of 
the  Empress — Objections — The  Empress  and  the  paste-board 
horse  —  The  Due  de  Moray  —  His  character — His  marriage  — 
Madame  de  Moray —  "The  White  Mouse"  —  Scene  with  the  Due 
de  Dino — Comte  Walewski — His  character  and  appearance — 
Comtesse  Walewska. 


THE  Palais-Royal,  where  resided  the  younger 
branch  of  the  reigning  family,  had  at  all  times 
been  a  focus  of  opposition,  and  although  the  princes 
who  resided  there  during  the  Empire  owed  every- 
thing to  Napoleon  III.,  the  old  traditions  were,  in 
this  respect,  thoroughly  revived. 

The  poor  Emperor,  always  kind,  always  gentle, 
always  generous,  was  overpowered  by  the  unpleasant 
relations  coming  to  him  from  his  great  predecessor ; 
so  that  he  might  well  answer,  as  he  did  on  one 
occasion,  when  reproached  by  the  aged  Prince  Je- 
rome,1 with  having  "nothing"  of  his  brother,  the 
Emperor : 

1  The  youngest  brother  of  Napoleon  I.,  father  of  the  prince  known  by 
that  name,  and  of  the  Princess  Mathilde. 

62 


UNDER   THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  63 

"  I  have  his  family ! " 

Not  one  of  that  uncomfortable  family  but  caused 
him  trouble  in  some  way,  while  all  clung  to  him 
with  the  cry  of  the  leech  :  "  Give !  give ! "  And  he 
gave — never  refusing,  even  when  he  knew  that  he 
was  favoring  his  enemies.  Prince  Jerome  himself, 
and  his  son,  Prince  Napoleon,  were  never  satisfied; 
then  came  Pierre  Bonaparte,1  whose  low  tastes  and 
low  habits  were  a  constant  source  of  annoyance; 
he  was  always  in  difficulties  of  some  kind,  requir- 
ing the  Emperor's  help.  He  married  a  woman  of 
very  inferior  position  and  was  never  received  at 
the  court.  His  adventure  with  Victor  Noir  is  well 
known ;  but  here  he  seems  to  have  really  acted  in 
self-defense.  Unfortunately  it  was  not  the  only  in- 
stance of  the  kind. 

Then  came  Letitia  Bonaparte,2  always  in  debt 
and  always  applying  to  the  Emperor  to  pay  her 
liabilities,  with  threats  of  coming  out  as  an  actress 
if  he  refused  to  do  so.  Her  daughter  married  first 
a  Hebrew  banker  named  Solms;  henceforward  she 
entitled  herself  the  "  Princesse  de  Solms."  Then  she 
married  the  Italian  demagogue  Ratazzi,  always  en- 
gaged in  conspiracies  against  the  Emperor;  finally, 
a  Monsieur  de  Rute. 

Prince  Jerome,  though  far  from  cordial,  or  even 
grateful,  was,  however,  too  insignificant  to  be  dan- 
gerous.   I  remember  him  only  as  a  courteous  old 

*A  son  of  Napoleon's  brother  Lucien. 
2  A  daughter  of  Lucien. 


64  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

man,  very  like  his  illustrious  brother,  with  old-fash- 
ioned manners;  holding  ladies  at  arm's  length  by 
the  tips  of  their  fingers,  and  always  most  careful  to 
address  the  Comtesse  de  Tascher  as  "Your  Serene 
Highness."  He  had  been  king  of  Westphalia  under 
the  First  Empire,  and  some  people  still  spoke  to 
him  as  "  Sire "  and  "  Your  Majesty,"  but  he  was 
usually  addressed  as  "Monseigneur"  and  "Your 
Imperial  Highness." 

His  son,  Prince  Napoleon,  was  a  more  formidable 
opponent,  although  heartily  disliked  and  despised 
by  all  classes  and  all  political  opinions  outside  a 
small  circle  of  private  friends.  He  possessed,  how- 
ever, brilliant  talents,  which,  had  he  chosen  to  develop 
them,  might  have  recalled  something  of  the  Napole- 
onic genius;  whereas,  in  fact,  he  only  caricatured 
the  worst  points  of  the  Corsican  adventurer,  without 
showing  any  of  the  grand  redeeming  gifts  of  the 
great  emperor. 

The  physical  likeness  was  wonderful,  but  the  ex- 
pression was  totally  different.  In  the  good  portraits 
of  Napoleon  I.,  the  clear  eyes  have  a  singularly  pier- 
cing glance,  at  once  conveying  the  idea  of  a  com- 
manding genius.  With  the  same  cast  of  features, 
there  was  something  peculiarly  low  and  thoroughly 
bad  in  the  face  of  Prince  Napoleon,  which  recalled 
in  a  striking  manner  the  stamp  of  the  worst 
Roman  Caesars. 

His  will  was  despotic,  his  temper  violent  and 
brutal ;  his  tastes  were  cynically  gross,  his  language 


PRINCE    NAPOLEON    AND   PRINCESS   CLOTILDE. 

FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    DISOEHI    &    CO. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  65 

coarse  beyond  what  could  be  imagined.  While  affect- 
ing tendencies  of  the  most  revolutionary  and  radical 
type,  he  was  essentially  a  tyrant,  and  could  brook 
no  opposition  to  his  will,  always  brutally  expressed. 
He  was  jealous  of  the  Emperor's  preeminent  position, 
as  of  sornethiug  stolen  from  himself;  but,  though 
in  a  state  of  chronic  rebellion,  he  never  hesitated 
to  accept  all  the  worldly  advantages  which  the  title 
of  "  cousin  "  could  obtain  for  him. 

The  Emperor  felt  a  sort  of  indulgent  affection 
for  Prince  Napoleon,  and  had  the  latter  chosen  to 
make  use  of  his  undeniable  talents,  in  accordance 
with  the  duties  of  the  position  which  he  had  ac- 
cepted, he  might,  duriDg  the  Empire,  have  played 
an  important  political  part,  and  have  gathered  the 
Emperor's  inheritance  at  the  death  of  the  Prince 
Imperial. 

But  never  were  natural  gifts  so  misapplied  or  so 
wasted.  He  could  bear  no  restraint,  no  interruption 
in  his  life  of  sensual  pleasures,  and  he  never  perse- 
vered in  anything  that  he  undertook,  when  any  per- 
sonal sacrifice  was  required  to  carry  it  out.  Every- 
thing that  he  attempted  bore  the  stamp  of  sudden 
impulse  never  followed  up.  He  seemed  to  delight 
in  outraging  public  opinion,  and  so  constantly 
played  the  proverbial  part  of  the  "  bull  in  the  china 
shop"  that  the  Emperor  was  kept  in  a  state  of 
constant  anxiety  as  to  what  "  Napoleon "  would 
choose  to  do  next. 

His  refusal  to  drink  the  health  of  the  Empress, 


66  LIFE  IN   THE  TUILEEIES 

in  her  presence,  on  her  birthday,1  is  one  of  the 
many  instances  of  his  utter  disregard  of  the  manners 
and  habits  of  a  gentleman,  while  his  real  feeling 
toward  the  Emperor  was  betrayed  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 

After  the  Pianori  attempt  on  the  Emperor's  life, 
when  Prince  Napoleon  came  to  present  his  official 
congratulations,  his  face  was  so  eloquent  of  what 
lay  below  that  the  Empress,  turning  to  one  of  her 
ladies,  whispered  in  English :  "  Look  at  the  Prince 
Napoleon ! " 

After  his  famous  revolutionary  speech  in  the  Sen- 
ate, which  brought  down  upon  him  the  withering 
response  of  the  Due  d'Aumale  ( "  Letter  on  the  His- 
tory of  France"),  the  Emperor  sent  for  him,  roused 
to  such  a  pitch  of  indignation  that  his  voice,  usually 
so  peculiarly  soft  and  low,  was  heard  raised  in  anger 
even  in  the  distant  waiting-room  of  the  attendants ; 
for  he  well  knew  what  the  effect  would  be  on  the 
Conservative  Imperialists. 

There  was  a  violent  scene,  and  when  Prince  Napo- 
leon returned  to  the  Palais  Royal,  he  vented  his  fury 
on  a  magnificent  vase  of  Sevres  porcelain,  which  he 
dashed  to  pieces.  And  yet  I  remember  that  the  Due 
de  Tascher,  who  had  said  to  me  that  he  "would 
rather  serve  the  King  of  Dahomey  than  such  a  man," 
still  acknowledged,  with  unwilling  admiration :  "But 

1  The  Emperor  had  desired  him  to  propose  the  health  of  the  Em- 
press; he  persistently  begged  to  "be  excused,  notwithstanding  the 
indignant  expostulations  of  the  Emperor. —  See  M6rimeVs  "Letters 
to  Panizzi." 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  67 

what  an  orator !  He  looked  as  handsome  as  Lucifer 
himself." 

The  opinion  of  his  own  personal  friends,  as  to 
what  his  future  rule  was  likely  to  be,  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  answer  of  one  belonging  to  his  most 
intimate  circle,  to  whom  (after  the  fall  of  the  Em- 
pire) Prince  Napoleon  said,  "  If  ever  I  am  emperor, 
you  shall  have  an  important  post." 

"  Monseigneur,"  was  the  comment,  in  the  laugh- 
ing tone  needful  for  the  acceptance  of  a  bold 
remark,  "if  ever  you  should  be  at  the  head 
of  public  affairs,  I  would  take  to  my  heels  the 
very  next  day,  for  you  would  not  be  easy  to  deal 
with." 

He  was  not  offended  at  the  blunt  frankness  of 
the  speaker,  for  he  was  acute  enough  to  despise 
sycophants,  and  to  appreciate  independence  even  in 
those  who  made  him  understand  that  they  would 
not  endure  his  unmannerly  ways.  On  such  occa- 
sions, he  has  been  known  to  say,  by  way  of  apology : 

"Oh,  my  dear ,  excuse  me,  I  am  ill-bred"  ("Je 

suis  mal-eleve"). 

With  his  democratic  opinions  and  plebeian  tastes, 
he  was,  in  strange  contrast,  extremely  proud — the 
pride  of  birth,  inherited  from  his  German  mother, 
the  Princess  Catherine  of  Wurtemberg.  He  had 
royal  blood  in  his  veins,  and  was  as  determined  to 
carry  out  ebenbiirtig  (equal  birth)  requirements  as 
any  prince  of  the  German  Confederacy. 

He  looked  down  loftily  on  the  Emperor  as  the 


68  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

son  of  a  private  gentlewoman,1  and  the  husband  of 
another,  chosen  voluntarily.  "I  am  of  too  great 
lineage  for  that "  was  a  saying  of  his ;  and  his  am- 
bition was  finally  gratified  by  obtaining  the  hand 
of  a  king's  daughter,  the  descendant  of  an  ancient 
royal  line. 

Prince  Napoleon's  sister,  the  Princess  Mathilde, 
was  not  likely  to  be  a  congenial  friend  to  the  young 
and  innocent  bride.  With  the  same  striking  Bona- 
parte cast  of  features  as  her  brother,  she  was,  like 
him,  "  ill-bred  " ;  in  fact,  the  Corsican  semi-barbarian, 
such  as  the  great  Emperor  himself,  has  been  revealed 
to  us  by  contemporary  memoirs.  She  had  possessed 
great  beauty,  and  in  her  youth  was  betrothed  to 
Prince    Louis   Napoleon,    afterward  Napoleon    III. 

She  hated  the  Empress  Eugenie,  of  whom  she 
spoke  in  offensive  terms.  As  years  went  by,  though 
still  retaining  the  classical  lines  of  her  character- 
istic features,  she  had  become  as  coarse  in  her  per- 
sonal appearance  as  in  her  language  and  man- 
ners. She  was  clever  and  artistically  gifted,  and 
was  principally  surrounded  by  men  belonging  to 
literary  and  artistic  sets.  She  was  very  good- 
natured  to  all  around  her,  and  a  kind,  sympathiz- 
ing friend  in  need. 

I  had  an  opportunity  of  particularly  remarking 
the  strange  contrast  between  the  two  sisters-in-law, 
at  a  ball  which  was   an   event  in   the  fashionable 

1  Hortense  de  Beauhamais,  daughter  of  Josephine  by  her  first 
husband,  aud  married  to  Louis  Bonaparte,  King  of  Holland. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  69 

world,  about  a  year  after  the  marriage  of  Prince 
Napoleon. 

The  Empress  had  built  a  very  beautiful  residence 
for  the  use  of  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Alva,  on 
her  visits  to  Paris.  This  villa,  or  hotel,  as  it  is 
called  in  French,  with  its  garden,  had  been  deco- 
rated and  adorned  with  unsparing  expense,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Due  de  Tascher,  whose 
artistic  taste  gave  a  character  to  the  whole  far 
superior  to  the  mere  upholstery  prettiness  which 
the  Empress  favored  in  her  usual  arrangements. 

When  all  was  ready,  the  Empress,  by  way  of  in- 
auguration, chose  to  give  a  fancy  ball  outside  of 
the  court,  "as  a  private  individual,"  where  only 
those  whom  she  was  pleased  to  have  would  be  in- 
vited. She  made  out  the  lists  herself,  but  notwith- 
standing all  her  restrictions  the  unavoidable  number 
admitted  was  so  considerable  that  it  became  neces- 
sary to  build  out  into  the  garden  a  temporary  room 
for  the  supper-tables.  This  beautiful  banqueting 
hall  was  arranged  by  the  Due  de  Tascher  in  imi- 
tation of  the  great  picture  by  Paul  Veronese,  "  The 
Marriage  of  Cana"  (in  the  Louvre  Gallery),  with 
most  effective  results.  A  curtain  concealed  the  en- 
trance till  it  was  drawn  at  a  given  signal,  when  the 
orchestra  played  the  march  from  Meyerbeer's  "  Pro- 
phete,"  while  the  guests  descended  the  steps  of  a 
magnificent  staircase  on  which  medieval  pages, 
dressed  in  the  Guzman-Montijo  colors,  stood,  hold- 
ing gilt  candelabra,  and  motionless  as  statues. 


70  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

An  amusing  incident  occurred  while  the  pages 
were  rehearsing  the  part  they  had  to  play  in  these 
festivities.  They  were  chosen  among  the  diminutive 
grooms  of  the  Emperor's  stables,  and  when  the  cos- 
tume was  ready,  a  pretty  boy,  who  seemed  about 
twelve  years  of  age,  was  brought  to  the  Empress  for 
her  examination  and  approval.  The  dress  pleased 
her,  and  she  turned  the  boy  round  to  inspect  him 
fully,  setting  his  velvet  cap  jauntily  on  his  curls, 
which  she  arranged  to  her  satisfaction,  adjusting 
his  ruff,  etc.  Then  kindly  patting  his  cheek,  she 
inquired : 

"  How  old  are  you,  my  little  friend  ? " 

"  Twenty,  Madame ! " 

The  scream  of  dismay  which  followed,  and  the 
amusement  of  the  bystanders,  may  be  imagined. 

With  her  usual  kindness,  and  happily,  in  this 
instance,  with  less  compromising  results,  the  Em- 
press sent  me  by  the  Due  de  Tascher,  but  from 
her  own  hand,  a  card  of  invitation  to  this  ball,  with 
a  message  that  it  would  be  worth  seeing,  and  that 
she  particularly  wished  me  to  be  present.  The  (Prin- 
cesse)  Comtesse  de  Tascher  immediately  said  that  I 
should  go  with  her,  and  that  she  would  be  glad  to 
have  my  arm,  while,  of  course,  I  was  equally  glad 
to  have  her  protection  and  chaperonage. 

Accordingly,  when  the  great  day  came,  we  went 
together,  early,  in  the  imperial  carriage,  for  which 
every  one  made  way,  and,  wearing  masks  and  dom- 
inoes, we  took  our  seats  near  the  entrance,  where 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  71 

the  Due  and  Duchesse  de  Tascher,  representing  the 
Empress,  received  the  guests,  so  as  to  watch  all 
the  arrivals.  After  some  time,  we  heard  peals  of 
laughter  coming  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  gal- 
lery where  we  were  seated,  and  turning  to  look,  we 
saw  a  woman  of  bold  appearance  and  manners,  sur- 
rounded by  men. 

"  That  woman  must  have  had  a  card  given  her 
by  some  one,"  remarked  the  Comtesse  de  Tascher; 
adding,  "I  hope  she  will  be  turned  out — her  style  is 
dreadful." 

Presently  the  noisy  group  came  toward  us,  and  the 
Countess  started. 

"  Oh,  my  dear !  Look ! "  she  exclaimed,  "  It  is  the 
Princess  Mathilde ! " 

She  came  close  to  us;  and  there  she  was,  un- 
doubtedly— but  not  immediately  recognizable,  be- 
cause her  skin  was  dyed  brown.  She  wore  the  cos- 
tume of  an  Egyptian  "  fellah  "  woman — very  artistic, 
certainly,  but  more  suitable  for  an  artist's  model 
than  for  a  civilized  member  of  society. 

As  she  stood — with  her  circle  of  men  around  her, 
talking  and  laughing  noisily — while  the  dominoes, 
ever  privileged  for  impertinence,  pursued  her  un- 
fortunate lady-in-waiting,  pertinaciously  inquiring: 
"Did  you  paint  your  princess?" — the  Comtesse  de 
Tascher  touched  my  arm.  I  turned,  and  there,  op- 
posite to  her  sister-in-law,  near  an  open  doorway, 
stood  the  Princess  Clotilde,  with  an  expression  of 
dismayed  amazement  on  her  grave  young  face.     She 


72  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

was  very  simply  dressed  in  pink  and  white  silk  as  a 
conventional  shepherdess;  the  only  remarkable  de- 
tail of  her  costume  being  a  wreath  of  pink  roses, 
separated  by  large  diamonds,  worn  as  a  necklace 
close  round  her  throat.  No  contrast  could  be  more 
striking  than  was  then  presented  between  the  gipsy 
woman  and  the  fair  young  creature,  all  innocence 
and  purity  in  her  simple  girlish  attire,  yet  so  un- 
mistakably royal  in  her  bearing.  She  stood  motion- 
less and  silent  as  if  petrified,  without  seeking  recog- 
nition from  the  strange  group  before  her,  and,  after 
a  pause,  turned  and  walked  away  gravely.  But  the 
Princess  Clotilde  never  again  went  to  a  fancy  ball, 
and  quietly  expressed  her  determination,  which  was 
irrevocable.  "  No ;  I  will  go  to  ordinary  balls,  but 
not  to  costume  balls."  " But  why,  Madame ? "  "I 
will  not  go."  This  was  all,  and  she  vouchsafed  no 
explanation.  But  what  I  had  seen  gave  me  the  key 
to  a  resolution  which  caused  general  surprise. 

The  Empress  had  intended  to  appear  as  a  conven- 
tional Louis  Quinze  Diana,  with  powdered  hair  and 
a  profusion  of  diamonds,  but  there  had  been  much 
discussion  as  to  whether  or  not  she  ought  to  wear 
this  dress.  There  was  no  impropriety  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  costume  itself,  which  I  saw,  on  an- 
other occasion,  worn  by  the  young  and  very  pretty 
Princess  Anna  Murat,1  to  whom  the  Empress  had 


1  A  descendant  of  the  Marshal,  who  was  for  some  time  king  of 
Naples,  and  of  his  wife,  Caroline  Bonaparte,  one  of  the  first  Em- 
peror's sisters. 


1    5 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  73 

given  it,  after  being  reluctantly  persuaded  that  it 
was  unsuitable  to  the  dignity  of  her  position.  It 
■was  not  easy  to  make  the  Empress  understand  that 
she  could  not  do  what  other  people  did,  and  that 
many  things  must  be  abstained  from  —  though  un- 
objectionable in  others.  On  this  occasion  the  dress 
was  prepared  and  laid  out  in  the  room  reserved  for 
her  use,  and  while  still  undecided  as  to  whether  or 
not  she  would  appear  as  Diana,  she  examined  what 
was  in  readiness  for  a  fancy  quadrille,  in  which 
some  of  the  dancers  were  to  figure  with  the  paste- 
board horses  seen  in  a  circus,  where  the  apparent 
rider  moves  inside  the  trappings.  This  took  her 
fancy,  and  she  immediately  made  the  trial  of  one  her- 
self ;  but  once  inside  she  could  not  get  out  again, 
and  none  of  her  ladies  knew  how  to  extricate 
her. 

Finally,  Comte  Robert  de  Tascher  was  called  to  the 
rescue,  and  succeeded  in  removing  the  inconvenient 
appendage,  while  the  Empress  was  much  amused  by 
the  adventure.  He  came  to  tell  us  of  it  in  the  ball- 
room, adding  the  information  that  she  had  decided 
not  to  wear  the  Diana  dress,  and  that  she  would  be 
present  concealed  in  a  domino. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  of  the  distinguished 
guests  at  this  ball  was  the  Due  de  Moray,  who 
was  known  to  be  a  son  of  the  Emperor's  mother, 
Queen  Hortense,  a  very  questionable  honor,  which, 
however,  he  put  forward  on  every  possible  occasion, 
in  a  manner  showing  a  complete  absence  of  all  in- 


74  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

nate  delicacy  of  feeling.  In  appearance  his  gentle- 
manlike demeanor  and  perfect  courtly  grace  were 
unsurpassed;  but,  nevertheless,  the  flower  of  the 
hydrangea,  called  by  the  French  Hortensia,  sur- 
mounted by  a  royal  crown,  figured  significantly  on 
the  panels  of  his  carriage,  and  in  general  nothing 
that  could  recall  his  birth  was  left  aside. 

After  his  special  embassy  to  Russia,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  coronation  of  Alexander  II.,  he  married  a 
young  Princess  Troubetskoi,  to  whom  an  origin  of 
the  same  kind  as  his  own  (attributed  to  the  Emperor 
Nicholas)  was  ascribed  by  public  rumor.  On  which 
Morny  said  cynically:  "I  am  the  son  of  a  queen — 
the  brother  of  an  emperor — the  son-in-law  of  an 
emperor — et  c'est  tout  natureV1 

Even  at  the  court  of  Napoleon  III.,  where  there 
was  not  much  austerity  of  principle,  the  effrontery 
of  this  speech  caused  disgust. 

Morny  was  very  like  the  Emperor,  but  much 
better-looking ;  of  taller  and  finer  figure,  with  more 
elegance  and  charm  of  manner.  He  was  guided  only 
by  self-interest,  and  was  esteemed  by  none ;  but  his 
natural  cleverness,  his  determined  spirit,  and  the 
wonderful  power  of  attracting  the  most  unwilling, 
made  him  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  Emperor,  to 
whom  his  loss  was  an  irreparable  misfortune. 

His  wife  was  one  of  those  strange  beings,  of  whom 
there  were  several  instances  in  the  society  of  that 
day,  whose  tempers,  whims,  and  caprices  would  have 
required  energetic  repression  in  the  case  of  children 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  75 

of  six  years  old,  but  were  absolutely  astonishing 
to  meet  with  among  women  supposed  to  have  reached 
years  of  discretion.  Madame  de  Moray  was  very 
pretty;  but  her  fragile  little  figure  was  as  thin  as 
a  skeleton,  with  small  hands  like  a  bird's  claws. 
Her  features  were  very  delicate,  and  her  pale  com- 
plexion of  dazzling  fairness ;  but  her  tiny  nose  was 
as  sharp  as  a  needle,  and  her  dark  eyes  had  a 
fierce,  waspish  expression,  the  very  reverse  of  at- 
tractive. The  sharp  black  eyes  were  in  startling 
contrast  to  her  flaxen  hair,  which  was  so  light  as 
to  be  almost  silvery,  so  that  she  was  called  "  La 
Souris  Blanche  "  (the  White  Mouse). 

At  the  ball  I  have  been  describing,  she  figured 
in  a  fancy  dance  of  sixteen  ladies,  representing  the 
four  Elements,  and,  of  course,  was  one  of  those 
personifying  "  Air,"  dressed  with  floating  streamers 
of  gauzy  blue  and  white.  When  the  dance  was  over, 
it  was  followed  by  another,  representing  the  char- 
acters of  the  fairy  tales  of  our  childhood ;  and 
Madame  de  Moray  sat  down  by  the  Comtesse  de 
Tascher  and  myself  to  see  the  dance.  But  the  Due 
de  Dino,  who  had  chosen  the  extraordinary  disguise 
of  the  "  stump  of  a  tree,"  swathed  in  bands  of  brown 
linen,  like  a  mummy,  with  all  the  supposed  young 
shoots  standing  out  like  a  bush  round  his  head, 
brought  his  unwelcome  figure  just  before  us.  Being 
a  small  man,  he  was  exactly  on  our  level,  the  bush 
forming  a  complete  screen.  We  were  all  annoyed, 
though  naturally  silent ;  but  Madame  de  Moray,  ad- 


76  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

dressing  him  in  a  haughty,  imperious  tone,  cried: 
"  Otez-vous  de  la ! "  ("  Go  away  from  here ! ").  He 
turned,  looked  at  her  from  head  to  foot  with  in- 
effable disdain,  and  did  not  move.  She  uttered  a 
fierce  growl,  and,  like  a  small  tigress,  flew  at  him, 
seizing  him  by  the  branches  round  his  head,  and 
trying  to  pull  him  forcibly  aside.  He  took  no  notice, 
and  failing  in  her  attempt,  she  was  forced  to  sit 
down,  in  a  state  of  fury. 

Such  an  exhibition  of  temper  in  a  court  ball-room 
may  give  some  idea  of  the  home  delights  which  she 
provided  for  her  husband.  I  remember  a  large  offi- 
cial dinner-party,  where  the  de  Tascher  family  were 
among  the  guests,  and  where  the  Due  de  Morny  was 
obliged  to  do  the  honors  alone,  because  in  a  fit  of 
temper  and  caprice  his  wife  refused  to  appear.  He 
was,  however,  quite  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  to 
others  of  the  same  kind,  playing  his  part  of  host 
with  his  usual  charming  grace  and  apparently  un- 
ruffled equanimity. 

A  great  contrast  to  Morny  was  found  in  Comte 
Walewski,  another  of  the  celebrated  men  who  figured 
at  the  court  and  councils  of  Napoleon  III.  Here, 
too,  was  a  "bend  sinister,"  sufficiently  revealed  by 
his  striking  likeness  to  Napoleon  I.,  but  a  more 
agreeable  version  of  the  well-known  face  than  that 
of  Prince  Napoleon.  General  Comte  de  Tascher 
had,  among  many  others,  a  small  portrait  of  the 
great  Emperor  which,  he  told  me,  was  the  best  like- 
ness he  had  seen.     This  portrait  seemed  reproduced 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  77 

in  Comte  Walewski ;  the  features,  the  peculiar  pal- 
lor, the  shade  of  the  gray-blue  eyes  and  their 
expression,  were  strikingly  similar.  But,  unlike 
Moray,  he  had  the  good  taste  to  keep  the  explana- 
tion in  the  background.  At  a  court  reception  he 
happened  to  hear  a  lady  say  to  another:  "How 
wonderfully  like  his  father  /"  He  turned,  and  with 
that  stiff,  rather  haughty  demeanor  which  made 
him  in  some  degree  unpopular,  he  gravely  re- 
marked: "I  was  not  aware,  madame,  that  Comte 
Walewski  had  the  honor  of  being  personally  known 
to  you ! " 

He  was  not  considered  agreeable,  showing  too 
much  of  the  "  statesman "  even  in  private  life ;  but 
he  was  a  gentleman,  and  more  esteemed  than  Moray, 
although  not  so  much  liked.  His  wife,  however, 
greatly  assisted  him  in  retaining  some  popularity 
by  her  particularly  graceful  and  amiable  manners. 
Every  one  was  attracted  by  the  Comtesse  Walewska, 
who  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  doing  a  kind 
act,  or  of  obliging  others  in  those  small  things  of 
daily  life  which  are  so  pleasing  and  so  valuable. 
She  was  also  quiet  and  ladylike.  Her  beauty  was 
much  extolled,  but  this  seemed  more  due  to  a  gen- 
eral impression  of  a  very  charming  and  most  agree- 
able woman,  than  to  real  beauty  taken  in  a  literal 
sense. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Princess  Clotilde  —  Her  religious  fervor  —  Her  daily  life  —  Her 
court  —  Evenings  at  the  Palais-Royal  —  Ennui  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie  —  The  camp  at  Chalons  —  Enmity  of  the  aristocratic 
Faubourg  St.  Germain  —  Persistent  criticisms;  irritation  of 
the  Empress  —  The  Comte  de  Chambord  and  the  Comtesse  de 
Tascher  —  The  great  official  balls  at  the  Tuileries  —  The  "  Cent- 
gardes  "  —  The  soldier  with  sugar- plums  in  his  boot  —  The  Em- 
press and  the  sentinel  —  A  wager  —  Etiquette  of  the  balls  — 
The  balcony  of  the  "Salle  des  Marechaux"  —  Clever  answer 
of  Mademoiselle  de  Montijo  —  Costume  balls  —  The  police  — 
The  fancy  quadrilles  —  Taglioni. 


THE  Princess  Clotilde,  whom  every  one  watched 
with  pitying  interest,  had  now  settled  down 
into  her  regular  life;  and  it  soon  became  evident 
to  all  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  choose 
anywhere  a  wife  more  utterly  uncongenial  to  Prince 
Napoleon.  She  was,  and  is  still,  a  princess  of  medi- 
eval times,  a  Saint  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  neither 
very  highly  educated  nor  very  clever,  caring  only 
for  her  religious  practices  and  her  works  of  charity. 
She  soon  ceased  to  pay  much  attention  to  her  toi- 
let, reaching  even  the  point  of  carelessness,  which 
greatly  annoyed  her  husband.  It  must  be  acknow- 
ledged that  the  devotion  of  the  Princess  Clotilde 
went  perhaps  beyond  what  was  quite  judicious ;  but 

78 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  79 

no  one  had  any  influence  over  her,  and  what  she 
considered  her  duty  was  performed  with  a  sort  of 
gentle,  placid  stubbornness  which  allowed  of  no  ex- 
postulation. 

At  first  she  showed  particular  graciousness  to  my 
elder  pupil,  the  future  Princess  Thurn  und  Taxis, 
who  was  about  her  own  age,  and  whose  manners 
evidently  pleased  her.  Had  this  first  sympathetic  in- 
tercourse been  encouraged  they  might  have  reached 
friendly  intimacy,  but  the  de  Tascher  de  la  Pageries, 
being  on  the  Beauharnais  side  of  the  imperial  family, 
were  never  on  very  cordial  terms  with  the  Bona- 
partes,  and  the  Princes  Napoleon  and  Jerome  were 
particularly  disliked  by  the  Due  de  Tascher ;  conse- 
quently the  intercourse  with  the  Palais  Royal  was 
limited  to  strict  courtly  etiquette  and  politeness. 

The  ladies  who  had  been  first  appointed  to  attend 
the  Princess  Clotilde  were  treated  with  such  rude- 
ness by  Prince  Napoleon,  that  one  after  another 
sent  in  her  resignation ;  so  that,  finally,  the  Princess 
had  only  around  her  ladies  chosen  out  of  the  circle 
composed  of  his  friends  and  their  wives,  whose  ways 
and  opinions  were  in  opposition  to  all  her  own. 
The  style  and  language  of  her  sister-in-law,  the 
Princess  Mathilde,  could  only  shock  her  feelings, 
and  she  was  not  attracted  by  the  gay  doings  of 
the  imperial  court,  where  she  only  appeared  on 
necessary  occasions,  being  herself  accustomed  to 
traditional  etiquette,  and  combining  the  pride  of 
rank,  which  she  considered  proper  dignity,  with  her 


80  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILEEIES 

very  real  Christian  humility.  "  She  is  a  true  prin- 
cess!" was  commonly  said  of  her.  At  the  present 
time  she  attends  the  poor  like  a  hospital  sister,  wear- 
ing hospital  aprons,  and  shrinking  from  no  act  of 
charity,  however  repulsive  ;  but  although,  when  she 
rises,  she  dresses  without  assistance,  her  attendants 
are  required  to  be  within  reach  and  in  readiness  to 
give  their  services,  because  it  is  proper  that  such 
should  be  the  case;  no  usage  of  etiquette  is  over- 
looked, because  it  is  right  that  she  should  be  treated 
as  a  royal  princess. 

During  the  Empire,  even  in  her  early  youth,  no 
one  dared  to  show  the  least  familiarity  in  her  pres- 
ence; but  the  stiff  decorum  of  her  circle  did  not 
make  home  life  particularly  agreeable.  During  the 
day,  her  ladies  accompanied  her  to  the  churches, 
where  they  unwillingly  awaited  her  pleasure  for 
hours;  in  the  evening  they  were  seated  round  a 
table  with  their  work,  while  the  Princess  herself 
diligently  plied  her  needle,  speaking  very  little 
and  not  encouraging  anyone  else  to  do  so.  Some 
ladies,  accustomed  more  to  the  brusque  ways  of 
the  master  of  the  house  than  to  the  tact  required 
in  the  presence  of  a  king's  daughter,  tried  to  speak 
of  public  affairs,  wondering,  for  instance,  how  mat- 
ters would  end  between  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Pope 
Pius  IX.,  which  must  evidently  have  been  most 
displeasing  to  the  Princess  Clotilde.  Scarcely  look- 
ing up,  she  replied  very  gently,  but  so  as  to  effectu- 
ally silence  the  indiscreet  talkers :  "  The  intentions 


n 

: 


- 
o 

2 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  81 

are  good — matters  are  in  God's  hands,  and  what  is 
his  will  must  happen."  But  never  to  any  one  did 
she  express  her  private  opinions,  or  utter  anything 
more  definite  than  such  truisms.  She  lived  alone, 
and  had  no  confidential  friends.  That  such  a  home 
should  have  been  unutterably  wearisome  to  Prince 
Napoleon  is  not  surprising;  though  it  is  doubtful 
whether  any  wife,  however  gifted,  could  have  re- 
tained any  hold  upon  his  affections. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  had  hoped  to  find  a  con- 
genial friend  in  the  young  and  interesting  bride, 
but  she  soon  discovered  that  intimacy  would  be 
impossible.  The  Princess  was  cold,  dignified,  and 
not  devoid  of  a  perceptible  shade  of  haughtiness; 
withal,  intensely  devout;  while  the  Empress,  not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  said  of  her  "clerical" 
tendencies,  was  at  that  time  only  very  moderately 
religious,  a  victim  to  "  ennui,"  and  ready  for  any- 
thing that  could  diversify  the  monotony  of  her  life. 

One  of  the  chamberlains  told  me  that,  as  he  pre- 
ceded the  Emperor  and  Empress  on  one  occasion, 
he  heard  the  Emperor  remonstrating  on  her  love 
of  pleasure,  and  the  fatigue  which  it  often  caused 
her.  She  answered  that  she  could  not  help  it, — 
that  she  was  dying  of  "ennui," — winding  up  by 
an  earnest  entreaty  to  be  taken  with  him  to  the 
camp  at  Chalons.  The  Emperor  strongly  objected 
—  a  camp  of  soldiery  would  be  no  place  for  her  — 
she  would  be  very  uncomfortable  —  besides,  what 
possible  attraction  could  she  find  there? 


82  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

As  usual,  the  Empress  had  her  own  way;  she 
went  to  the  camp,  and  slept  in  a  tent,  with  an  um- 
brella over  her  bed,  because  the  rain  came  through ; 
she  walked  about  among  the  troops,  with  mud  up 
to  her  ankles,  protected  by  gaiters — and  was  de- 
lighted.    Anything  for  a  change. 

But  such  a  proceeding  had  no  precedent  in  for- 
mer reigns,  and  was  much  criticized.  The  lofty 
enmity  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  who  looked 
down  contemptuously  upon  everything  said  or  done 
by  "Mademoiselle  de  Montijo," — for  they  did  not 
even  vouchsafe  to  call  her  "  Madame  Bonaparte," — 
especially  stung  her  to  the  quick,  and  after  shrink- 
ing at  first  from  their  criticism,  she  became  irritated, 
even  to  recklessness.  "Those  people  all  seem  to 
despise  me,  and  to  look  down  upon  me  as  an  in- 
ferior," she  said  bitterly,  "and  yet,  surely,  the  blue 
blood  of  Spain  is  worth  something ! " 

"High  life  below  stairs?"  was  the  remark  made 
to  me,  in  English,  by  a  leader  of  fashion  in  the 
dreaded  Faubourg,  where  I  had  retained  friends 
and  family  connections,  many  of  whom  would  not, 
at  first,  visit  me  in  my  new  abode  at  the  Tuileries. 

"  Why  do  you  keep  bad  company  ? "  was  their 
answer  when  I  remonstrated. 

I  remember  the  stately  dignity  with  which  the 
(Princesse)  Comtesse  de  Tascher  said,  when  an  invi- 
tation was  refused  by  a  Legitimist  on  the  plea  that 
his  political  opinions  did  not  allow  him  to  accept  it : 

"  He  is  more  particular  than  his  master,  for  when 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  83 

the  Conite  de  Chambord  came  to  Munich,  he  im- 
mediately paid  me  a  visit,  coming  himself  to  my 
house ! " 

In  the  winter  there  were  always  four  State  balls, 
attended  by  a  motley  crowd,  since,  for  the  sake  of 
popularity,  invitations  were  as  much  extended  as 
possible,  and  generally  reached  the  number  of  from 
four  to  five  thousand.  Still,  these  crowded  balls, 
though  much  disliked  by  the  court  and  accepted 
as  a  necessary  evil,  were  a  splendid  sight  not  easily 
to  be  forgotten. 

The  entrance  was  under  the  "Pavilion  de  l'Hor- 
loge,"  in  the  center  of  the  building,  where  a  large 
staircase  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  plants  and 
flowers  led  to  the  "  Galerie  de  la  Paix,"  where  the 
guests  remained  till  the  Emperor  and  Empress  had 
taken  their  seats  in  the  "  Salle  des  Marechaux." 
On  each  step  of  the  staircase  stood  two  of  the 
"Centgardes"  (the  Emperor's  body-guard)  in  their 
brilliant  uniform  of  pale  blue  turned  up  with  crim- 
son, their  bright  steel  cuirass  and  helmet.  They 
were  all  picked  men,  sub-officers  chosen  out  of  va- 
rious regiments,  of  magnificent  appearance,  who, 
when  on  duty,  stood  motionless  as  statues.  This 
absolute  immobility  is  said  to  be  so  fatiguing  that 
it  cannot  be  sustained  beyond  a  limited  time;  but 
it  was  so  complete  that  to  come  suddenly  on  one 
of  these  guards  in  the  palace  was  positively  start- 
ling; it  was  scarcely  possible  to  believe  that  they 
were  alive. 


84  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

One  day  the  little  Prince,  in  childish  play,  emptied 
a  whole  bag  of  sugar-plums  into  the  boot  of  the  sen- 
tinel before  his  door,  hoping  to  provoke  some  sign 
of  life,  but  without  the  slightest  effect  on  the  mili- 
tary statue  before  him. 

In  the  evening  the  incident  was  mentioned  by  the 
Empress  in  the  presence  of  Colonel  Verly,  who  com- 
manded the  regiment.  He  then  declared  the  drill  to 
be  so  perfect  that  "  nothing"  would  make  one  of  his 
men  move  when  on  duty.  The  Empress  would  not 
believe  this  assertion,  and  finally  laid  a  wager  that 
she  would  make  one  of  the  guards  move.  The  wager 
was  accepted  by  Colonel  Verly,  and  the  Empress  then 
went  with  him  into  the  neighboring  gallery,  where 
they  walked  backward  and  forward  before  the  sen- 
tinel, the  Empress  trying  by  every  means  to  attract 
his  attention.  The  man  stood  as  if  turned  into  stone. 
Colonel  Verly  smiled.  The  Empress  then,  with  her 
characteristic  impetuosity,  went  straight  up  to  the 
guard,  and  (according  to  familiar  speech)  "  boxed  his 
ears."  Not  a  muscle  moved.  The  Empress  then  ac- 
knowledged that  Colonel  Verly  had  won  the  day,  and 
sent  a  handsome  compensation  to  the  soldier,  who 
proudly  refused  it,  saying  that  he  was  sufficiently 
compensated  by  the  honor  of  having  had  his  sov- 
ereign lady's  hand  on  his  cheek. 

In  the  terrible  war  of  1870  with  Germany  these  fine 
troops  proved  that  they  were  not  intended  merely  for 
parade,  but  took  their  place  gloriously  among  the 
bravest. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  85 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  on  leaving  their  pri- 
vate apartments  first  entered  the  "  Salon  du  Premier 
Consul,"  where  they  received  the  Imperial  family,  the 
guests  admitted  to  formal  presentation,  the  ambassa- 
dors, and  other  important  dignitaries.  Then,  followed 
by  the  brilliant  assembly,  they  entered  the  "  Salle  des 
Marechaux  "  in  state,  where,  in  a  loud  voice,  "  L'Em- 
pereur  ! "  was  announced.  The  imperial  party  then 
took  their  seats  on  a  slightly  raised  platform,  and  the 
dancing  began,  both  in  the  "  Galerie  de  la  Paix  "  and 
the  "  Salle  des  Marechaux,"  with  a  double  orchestra. 

The  latter  room,  which  was  the  finest  in  the 
palace,  derived  its  name  from  the  portraits  of  the 
great  Napoleon's  marshals,  which  figured  on  the 
walls — twelve  in  number — like  the  peers  of  Charle- 
magne ! 

On  each  side,  but  of  course  closed  at  night,  was  a 
large  balcony;  one, looking  on  the  gardens,  where  all 
the  queens  and  princesses  of  France  had  stood  to  be 
presented  to  the  people  after  their  marriage,  and 
where  the  Empress  had  also  appeared  as  the  Em- 
peror's bride  on  returning  from  Notre  Dame.  The 
other  balcony  opened  on  the  "  Place  du  Carrousel," 
and  there  the  Empress  sat,  with  her  "  service  d'hon- 
neur,"  when  the  Emperor  reviewed  the  troops,  fol- 
lowed as  soon  as  possible,  and  perhaps  sooner  than 
was  prudent,  by  the  little  Prince  in  uniform,  riding 
his  pony  with  such  spirit,  even  when  a  young  child, 
that  a  burst  of  enthusiasm  from  the  troops  always 
greeted  his  appearance. 

6* 


8G  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

It  was  said  that  when  the  Emperor  was  still  Presi- 
dent of  the  French  Kepublic,  shortly  before  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  Empire,  he  complimented  Mademoi- 
selle de  Monti  jo  and  her  mother  with  seats  on  this 
privileged  balcony,  to  witness  a  review.  As  he  passed 
before  her,  on  horseback,  he  looked  np,  saying : 

"  How  can  I  reach  you,  Mademoiselle  f " 

"By  way  of  the  cl/apcl,  Monseigneur,"  was  the 
quick  and  acute  reply;  for  the  entrance,  leading 
to  the  chapel  on  one  side,  was,  on  the  other,  the 
most  direct  way  to  reach  the  "  Salle  des  Marechaux  " 
from  the  place  where  he  was  speaking. 

There  was  always  one  costume  ball  every  year, 
but,  of  course,  much  more  restricted  in  the  number 
of  the  guests  than  the  great  balls  before  mentioned. 
The  Empress  always  appeared  in  costume,  seated  in 
state,  surrounded  by  the  imperial  family,  also  in  cos- 
tume ;  but  the  Emperor  never  went  beyond  a  change 
of  uniform.  The  great  interest  of  the  time  was  the 
question  of  the  fancy  quadrilles  which  were  always 
danced  before  the  platform  on  which  their  Majesties 
were  seated.  These  quadrilles,  which  varied  every 
year,  were  usually  got  up  by  the  ladies  de  Tascher, 
who  thoroughly  understood  such  matters,  and  were 
carefully  rehearsed  for  some  time  previously,  under 
the  direction  of  Merante,  the  ballet-master  of  the 
opera,  who  composed  dances  suitable  for  ladies  not 
wearing  ballet  costumes.  For  instance,  one  year  a 
gipsy  party  appeared,  dancing  a  Hungarian  dance  to 
the  music  of  Weber's  "  Preciosa  " ;  the  next,  a  whole 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  87 

scene  of  the  time  of  Louis  XVI.  was  given — the 
Duchesse  cle  Tascher,  in  a  gilded  and  painted  sedan- 
chair,  carried  by  her  servants  in  livery,  surrounded 
by  pages  and  ladies  of  the  period,  and  escorted  by 
courtiers  of  the  time,  the  whole  ending  in  a  minuet, 
as  danced  at  the  court  of  Louis  XYI. ;  another  year 
it  was  a  quadrille  in  Polish  dresses,  the  dancers 
drawn  in  sledges,  and  then  dancing  a  spirited  ma- 
zurka, etc.,  etc.  At  one  of  the  rehearsals  of  these 
dances,  I  was  told  that  the  celebrated  Taglioni  was 
present:  my  curiosity  was  greatly  awakened,  having 
heard  my  father  and  mother  speak  of  her  airy  grace 
with  absolute  enthusiasm,  and  I  eagerly  asked  the 

Comtesse  de  G to  point  her  out  to  me. 

"Hush!"  she  replied,  "she  is  just  behind  you." 
I  took  an  opportunity  of  turning  round,  and 
there  I  saw  a  remarkably  stiff-looking  person,  with 
pursed-up  mouth  and  very  prim  appearance,  abso- 
lutely the  conventional  type  of  a  pedantic  school- 
mistress. I  never  was  more  astonished.  Merante 
had  wished  to  have  her  opinion  of  the  dance; 
but  she  spoke  very  little,  and  seemed  the  reverse 
of  agreeable  or  natural. 

The  costume  balls  at  the  residences  of  the  differ- 
ent ministers,  or  in  the  apartments  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Tascher  or  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano,  were  more 
agreeable  for  the  Emperor  and  Empress  than  the 
official  balls,  for  they  came  in  masks  and  dominos, 
enjoying  complete  liberty.  The  Emperor,  however, 
was  easily  recognized  by  his  peculiar  walk  and  at- 


88  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

titude;  I  once  came  near  him  unexpectedly  in  a 
doorway  (where  he  stood  with  other  dominos,  who 
evidently  accompanied  him)  and  knew  him  at  once, 
involuntarily  drawing  back.  He  seemed  annoyed, 
and  made  a  gesture  as  if  to  say:  "What  are  you 
stopping  for?"  when,  of  course,  I  passed  on  with- 
out taking  any  further  notice. 

When  a  ball  took  place  in  the  private  apart- 
ments of  the  dignitaries  of  the  household,  and  it 
was  known  that  the  Emperor  and  Empress  would 
be  present,  great  precautions  were  taken  for  their 
safety,  especially  in  the  case  of  costume  balls,  where 
masks  were  tolerated  and  of  course  constituted  a 
serious  danger.  All  guests  wearing  masks  were  re- 
quired to  remove  them  before  entering  the  ball- 
rooms to  allow  their  features  to  be  examined; 
detectives  stood  about  the  entrance  and  mingled 
with  the  guests ;  many  of  them  were  dressed  as  at- 
tendants, and  carried  trays  of  refreshments  through 
the  rooms. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  police  force  during  the  Empire  —  Story  of  M.  de  Saint- 
Julien  —  A  robbery  —  A  fascinating  detective  —  A  mysterious 
sign  —  Dinner  parties  at  the  palace  —  The  imperial  table  dur- 
ing Lent  and  on  Fridays  —  Lent  concerts  —  Auber  —  Mario  — 
Patti  —  Alboni  —  The  national  tune  composed  by  Queen  Hor- 
tense  —  The  Emperor's  dislike  of  music  —  The  mechanical  piano 
—  The  "  Stabat  Mater"  performed  in  the  chapel  —  The  sup- 
posed excessive  devotion  of  the  Empress. 


THE  police  force  of  the  Empire  was  a  curious 
aud  complicated  institution,  but  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  in  those  days  life  and  property  enjoyed 
a  degree  of  security  which  afterward  did  not  exist. 
A  remarkable  instance  of  the  acuteness  shown  was 
related  to  me  by  a  personage  concerned  in  it,  the 

Comte  de  G F ,  well  known  in  the  highest 

Parisian  society  of  that  time. 

The   Comte   de   G F was  intimate  with 

an  old  Marchioness  of  the  aristocratic  Faubourg  St. 
Germain;  he  had  known  her  for  many  years,  and 
even  had  the  habit  of  addressing  her  by  the  af- 
fectionate term  of  "Maman." 

One  day  on  paying  "Maman"  a  visit,  he  found 
her  in  a  state  of  great  agitation;  she  had  just 
discovered  that  she  had  been  robbed  of  a  large  sum 

89 


90  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

of  money,  which  she  had  placed  in  her  bureau 
pending  its  investment  by  her  agent  cle  change,  or 
stock-broker. 

The  Count  soothed  her  as  well  as  he  could,  and 
having  ascertained  that  she  had  not  yet  mentioned 
what  she  had  just  discovered  to  any  one  but  him- 
self, he  urged  her  to  keep  the  matter  secret,  and 
to  leave  the  management  of  it  in  his  hands,  which 
she  consented  to  do. 

The  Count  then  went  at  once  to  the  chief  of 
the  police,  who  listened  attentively,  and,  merely  re- 
marking that  the  theft  must  have  been  committed 
by  some  one  well  acquainted  with  the  house,  asked 
carelessly  what  were  the  habits  of  the  Marchioness. 
The  Count  answered  that  she  led  the  quiet  life  of 
an  elderly  lady,  only  varied  by  a  dinner-party  every 
week,  on  that  very  day;  but  that  she  was  so  much 
disturbed  by  her  loss  that  probably  on  this  occa- 
sion the  guests  would  be  put  off. 

"  On  no  account ! "  cried  the  prefect  of  police. 
"Tell  your  friend  above  all  things  to  make  no 
change;  she  must  give  her  dinner-party  as  usual 
—  but  she  must  allow  me  to  send  her  a  guest." 

The  Count  started.  "What  — a  detective?  My 
friend  will  not  like  the  idea  at  all." 

"  If  she  wishes  to  recover  her  money,  she  must 
let  me  manage  this  matter  in  my  own  way.  Be  so 
kind  as  to  go  to  the  Passage  Delorme,  opposite  the 
Tuileries  Palace,  at  five  o'clock  this  evening.  You 
will  there  find  a  young  man  who  will  address  you  by 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  91 

name,  and  who  will  call  himself  '  M.  de  Saint-Julien.' 
Yon  will  take  him  to  your  friend,  and  he  will  join 
her  party.    Leave  the  rest  to  me." 

A  good  deal  disturbed,  the  Count  returned  to  the 
Marchioness,  who  at  first  was  horrified  at  the  idea  of 
a  detective  for  a  guest;  but  she  yielded  at  length,  and 
the  Count  went,  as  agreed,  to  the  Passage  Delorme. 
The  gallery  was  empty,  and  the  Count  began  to  look 
into  the  shop  windows  to  beguile  the  time,  when  he 
saw  a  young  man  fashionably  dressed,  and  of  re- 
markably elegant  and  gentlemanlike  appearance, 
who  also  began  to  look  at  the  toys.  After  a  short 
pause  he  accosted  the  Count. 

"Monsieur,  you  are,  I  believe,  waiting  for  some 
one!" 

"  Monsieur,"  answered  the  Count,  "  I  am,  indeed, 
expecting  some  one  to  meet  me  ;  but  I  should 
be  greatly  surprised  if  that  individual  were  your- 
self." 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  addressing  the  Comte  de 
G F !» 

"Yes." 

"  I  am  M.  de  Saint-Julien." 

Greatly  astonished,  the  Count  bowed,  and  at  once 
began  to  pace  the  gallery  with  the  new-comer,  who 
questioned  him  with  astute  quickness  as  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  robbery,  and,  after  quietly  stating 
his  opinion  that  the  thief  must  be  some  one  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  ways  of  the  Marchioness,  he  added: 

"  Now  take  me  to  your  friend's  house." 


92  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

"  But,"  said  the  Count,  "  how  shall  I  know  if  you 
have  discovered  any  clue  ? " 

"  I  will  make  this  gesture,"  and  the  detective  made 
a  rapid  circular  motion  with  his  right  hand,  holding 
the  forefinger  extended. 

This  point  being  settled,  "M.  de  Saint-Julien"  was 
duly  introduced  to  the  Marchioness.  Soon  he  had 
charmed  every  one  present  by  his  perfect  ease  of 
manner  and  the  brilliancy  of  his  conversation. 

The  Count  sat  gravely  watching  the  strange  guest, 
little  pleased  at  his  apparent  forgetfulness  of  the 
only  motive  which  explained  his  presence  in  such 
society.  But  at  the  close  of  the  dinner  M.  de  Saint- 
Julien,  still  carelessly  talking  and  laughing,  looked 
toward  the  Count,  and  rapidly  passed  his  hand,  with 
forefinger  extended,  round  the  brim  of  the  finger- 
glass  before  him,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
seemed  the  natural  accompaniment  to  what  he  was 
saying. 

On  leaving  the  dinner-table,  the  Count  eagerly 
approached  him,  and  whispered : 

"  You  made  the  sign  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  You  are  on  the  track  1 " 

"  I  know  who  it  is." 

"  Who  1 "  cried  the  Count. 

"  The  servant  who  was  behind  your  chair.  He 
is  the  man." 

"How  can  you  possibly  know?"  exclaimed  the 
Count,  greatly  astonished. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  93 

"I  suspected  that  the  robbery  had  been  com- 
mitted by  a  professional  thief,  so  I  used  words  and 
expressions  which,  although  they  would  not  attract 
your  notice,  yet,  as  I  employed  them,  had  another 
meaning  in  the  thieves'  dialect  or  argot.  The  man 
at  once  recognized  in  me  a  police  officer,  and  turned 
pale.    He  is  the  thief." 

"But,"  cried  the  Count,  "of  course  he  will  now 
try  to  escape ! " 

"  Do  you  take  me  for  a  fool  ? "  said  M.  de  Saint- 
Julien.    "  The  house  is  guarded  at  every  door." 

The  man  really  did  try  to  escape,  and  was  im- 
mediately stopped.  The  room  in  which  he  slept 
was  then  searched,  and  the  whole  sum  was  found 
except  a  few  francs,  spent  probably  at  some  cafe. 

A  few  months  later  the  Count  was  walking  on 
the  Terrasse  des  Feuillants,  in  the  gardens  of  the 
Tuileries,  when  he  met  a  policeman  in  the  usual 
dress  of  his  class,  with  a  good-humored  but  very 
ordinary  expression  of  countenance,  wearing  the 
small  mustache  and  pointed  beard  of  the  sergent  de 
ville.  The  man  accosted  him,  and  was  not  recog- 
nized till  he  revealed  himself  as  "M.  de  Saint- 
Julien." 

Every  Thursday  there  was  a  large  dinner  party  at 
the  palace,  followed  by  a  "reception,"  where  the  Em- 
press took  the  greatest  pains  to  propitiate  every  one 
present,  going  from  one  to  another,  remembering 
what  to  say  to  each  of  her  guests,  and  allowing  no 
one  to  feel  neglected. 


94  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

The  Emperor's  table  was  said  by  the  Due  de 
Taseher  to  be  the  best  royal  table  in  Europe.  Din- 
ner was  served  very  rapidly,  and  never  lasted  more 
than  an  hour.  For  the  sake  of  avoiding  all  risk  to 
the  ladies'  dresses,  the  dishes  were  offered  in  a  low 
voice  to  each  guest,  but  they  did  not  help  them- 
selves. The  plate  was  handed  with  its  contents 
ready.  This  vexed  the  Due  de  Taseher,  who  often 
protested  to  the  servants,  saying  that  they  always 
gave  him  what  he  did  not  want,  much  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  his  neighbors  at  the  imperial  table. 

On  Fridays,  and  the  fast-days  of  the  Church,  two 
dinners  were  served :  one  according  to  ecclesiastical 
prescription,  the  other  as  usual.  Those  present  chose 
according  to  their  wishes. 

In  Lent  several  concerts  took  place  at  the  palace — 
it  might  be  supposed  as  a  penance,  for  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  both  particularly  disliked  music.  Of 
course  at  these  concerts  the  most  celebrated  artists 
appeared ;  but  the  Emperor  never  went  beyond  quiet 
resignation,  even  when  listening  to  Mario  and  Patti. 
No  music  was  welcome  to  him,  but  he  particularly 
hated  the  tune  which  was  a  sort  of  national  air  dur- 
ing the  Empire  — "  Partant  pour  la  Syrie,"  composed 
by  his  mother,  Queen  Hortense,  and  which  followed 
him  pertinaciously  wherever  he  went.  He  would 
then  say  with  a  sigh  :  "  Ah  !  my  poor  mother  did  not 
foresee  what  she  would  inflict  on  me,  when  she  com- 
posed that  tune ! " 

Strange  to  say,  with  such  an  unmusical  father  and 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  95 

mother,  the  Prince  Imperial  was  passionately  fond  of 
music,  which  rather  alarmed  the  Emperor,  who,  with 
amusing  anxiety,  expressed  the  earnest  hope  that  he 
would  not  compose  operas  some  day. 

The  Due  de  Tascher  was  a  good  judge  of  music, 
and  had  a  particular  horror  of  the  mechanical  piano 
used  for  dancing.  When  it  was  first  introduced,  he 
heard  one  morning  the  voluble  notes  as  though  some 
one  were  skimming  over  the  keys  of  a  piano,  and 
expressed  his  indignation  to  the  Emperor. 

"  There  was  a  fellow  playing  this  morning — I  can- 
not imagine  who  it  can  be  —  who  has  nimble  fingers 
enough,  but  who  plays  like  a  perfect  ass,  without  the 
least  soul  or  musical  feeling." 

The  Emperor  answered  quietly :  "  I  am  that  indi- 
vidual— I  played  this  morning." 

"  Good  heavens,  Sire,  how  could  I  suppose  such  a 
thing !  I  never  in  my  life  heard  of  your  playing  any 
instrument,  or  caring  for  music  ! " 

The  Emperor,  after  enjoying  his  discomfiture  for  a 
few  moments,  explained  that  the  piano  was  mechan- 
ical and  that  he  had  simply  turned  the  handle  ! 

As  we  did  not  share  the  imperial  aversion  to  music, 
the  concerts  in  Lent  were  a  great  delight  to  my  pu- 
pils and  myself,  as  we  always  obtained  leave  from 
the  Due  de  Bassano  to  attend  at  the  rehearsals  in  the 
"  Salle  des  Marechaux."  Auber,  the  composer,  was 
always  present,  superintending  the  artists  and  the 
Conservatoire,  who  took  the  choruses.  He  was  a 
small,  meager  old  man,  with  gray  hair  and  an  aqui- 


96  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

line  nose,  but  still  very  active  and  keenly  interested 
when  his  own  music  was  performed,  though  taking 
matters  coolly  when  other  composers  suffered  from 
imperfect  interpretation.  He  well  knew  the  real  feel- 
ing of  the  imperial  hosts,  for,  once  especially,  I  saw 
him  spring  to  his  feet  during  the  interminable  duet 
in  the  first  act  of  "  Guillaume  Tell,"  and  stop  the 
performers. 

"  You  must  cut  that  down ;  they  will  never  endure 
it ! "  he  said,  thus  boldly  interpreting  what  had  been 
my  own  private  feeling  for  some  time. 

Adelina  Patti  appeared  at  these  concerts  in  the 
very  beginning  of  her  musical  career ;  looking  like  a 
mere  girl,  almost  a  child.  She  sang  with  Mario,  as  a 
duet,  the  drinking  song  in  "La  Traviata,"  "Libiamo," 
with  beautiful  effect,  each  singer  feeling  the  value 
of  the  other,  and  both  doing  their  best.  But  all  the 
great  singers,  both  French  and  Italian,  were  heard  in 
turn  at  these  concerts,  which  we  greatly  enjoyed  as 
may  be  supposed,  though  the  lofty  room  was  very 
cold  on  such  occasions,  and  the  singers  complained. 
I  remember  Madame  Gueymard,  the  prima  donna 
of  the  French  opera,  insisting  upon  having  a  warm 
footstool  during  the  rehearsal,  and  standing  upon  it 
when  called  to  express  her  affliction  in  "  Ah !  die  la 
morte "  of  "  II  Trovatore,"  which  she  sang  with  her 
husband,  who  stood  at  some  distance  to  give  due 
effect  to  his  lamentations,  answered  by  her  sobs. 
"Addio,  Leonora!"  "My  dear,  what  are  you  about! 
—  you  are  all  wrong."    "Addio,  Leonora!"  etc.,  etc. 


NAPOLEON    III.,   THE    EMPR1  SS    I  UGENIE, 
AND   THE    PRINCE    IMPERIAL. 


FROM  A   PHOTOGRAPH   EY  LADRE Y-DISDERI. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  97 

These  insights  into  green-room  mysteries  were  ex- 
tremely amusing  to  us;  but  sometimes  the  very 
great  singers,  too  sure  of  their  powers,  such  as 
Alboni,  disappointed  us  by  merely  humming  a  tune 
to  try  it  with  the  orchestra,  instead  of  singing  it. 
Happily  this  was  a  rare  occurrence,  as  they  mostly 
exercised  their  voices  to  judge  of  the  effect  in  the 
room. 

On  Thursday  of  Holy  Week,  Rossini's  "Stabat 
Mater "  was  sung  in  the  chapel  by  the  first  artists ; 
all  the  ladies  present  were  dressed  in  black,  with 
black  lace  veils,  the  effect  of  which  was  very  solemn. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  as  to  the  ultra  devo- 
tion of  the  Empress.  That  her  sorrows  and  reverses 
have  awakened  fervent  religious  feelings  is  no  doubt 
true;  but  at  that  time  there  was  certainly  no  ten- 
dency to  excess.  She  never  went  to  any  church 
but  the  chapel  of  the  Tuileries,  where  the  services 
were  limited  to  the  daily  masses,  which  she  did  not 
habitually  attend,  and  the  Sunday  high  mass.  There 
were  no  afternoon  services  of  any  kind,  and  no 
sermons,  excepting  in  Lent,  or  on  very  particular 
occasions.  At  Christmas,  the  midnight  mass,  so 
much  appreciated  by  Catholics,  was  always  cele- 
brated, but  the  court  never  attended  officially.  The 
de  Tascher  family  and  some  other  ladies  were  al- 
ways present,  but  I  never  saw  the  Empress  appear 
even  in  the  gallery. 


CHAPTER  IX 

"  The  Empress's  Mondays  "  —  Orders  worn  by  ladies  —  The  court 
train — The  "  Salut  du  Trone,"  or  grand  court  obeisance  — 
The  inclosed  garden  at  the  Tuileries — "  Bagatelle  " —  The  court 
leaves  Paris  —  Fontainebleau — "  La  Regie  " —  Inconvenience  of 
living  in  a  palace  —  Housewifely  care  of  the  Empress  —  A  siege 
in  the  apartments  —  A  prince  left  at  the  door  —  St.  Cloud  — 
Villeneuve  l'Etang  —  Furniture  embroidered  by  Josephine  — 
A  collation  with  the  Prince  Imperial  —  Anecdotes  —  A  "Te 
Deum"  wanted. 


AFTER  Easter  the  great  official  festivities  were 
iJL  replaced  by  the  more  valued  and  more  select 
balls  called  "  the  Empress's  Mondays,"  at  which  her 
gracious  kindness  could  more  easily  be  appreciated. 
For  these  the  most  elegant  toilets  were  reserved. 
The  guests  were  received  in  the  private  apartments, 
and  each  one  could  attract  more  notice  than  in  the 
"crush"  of  the  state  balls,  where  the  very  rich  toi- 
lets were  almost  wasted. 

Some  ladies  of  the  court  wore  ribbons  of  foreign 
orders,  put  across  one  shoulder,  and  fastened  down 
on  the  opposite  side,  as  in  the  portraits  of  Queen 
Victoria;  the  Empress  had  a  Spanish  order,  but 
seldom  wore  it,  though  it  is  seen  in  a  large  official 
portrait,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  provincial 
town  halls,  etc.     She  is  represented  in  full  court 

98 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  99 

dress,  with  a  train  of  green  velvet,  her  Spanish 
order  of  violet-colored  ribbon,  and  her  high  tiara 
of  pearls  and  diamonds,  the  weight  of  which  fa- 
tigued her  so  much  that  she  disliked  wearing  it, 
though  it  was  very  becoming  to  her. 

The  (Princesse)  Comtesse  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie 
wore  the  ribbon  and  cross  of  Therese  of  Bavaria, 
and,  in  addition,  the  cross  of  the  honorary  can- 
onesses  of  Remiremont  (an  order  now  extinct), 
which  was  given,  in  former  times,  only  to  those 
who  could  prove,  on  both  father's  and  mother's 
lines,  sixteen  quarterings  or  generations  of  the 
highest  nobility,  an  order  whose  abbesses  were 
always  princesses  of  the  royal  family  of  France. 

The  Duchesse  de  Tascher  wore  the  ribbon  and 
"  Starred  Cross "  of  Austria,  which  requires  also  a 
wonderful  length  of  uninterrupted  pedigree.  With 
her  magnificent  figure  and  stately  demeanor,  she 
looked  very  grand  on  great  court  occasions,  when 
she  wore  the  blue  satin  train,  with  the  ribbon  and 
cross  belonging  to  her  order.  Young  unmarried 
ladies  were  not  admitted  on  what  were  called 
"jours  de  manteau  de  cour"1  (train  days),  so  her 
daughters  and  myself  begged  her  to  rehearse  before 
us  the  grand  court  courtesy,  with  the  management 
of  the  long  train,  which  was  a  very  difficult  mat- 
ter, especially  with  the  hooped  skirts  of  the  period, 
but  which    she   performed    so    perfectly   as  to  be 

1  Limited  to  the  solemn  receptions  of  the  New  Year,  like  the 
drawing-TOOms   of  Queen   Victoria. 


100  LIFE   IN   THE  TUILERIES 

celebrated  for  her  manner  of  going  through  the 
ordeal. 

The  slow  plunge  downward  to  the  very  ground, 
with  the  head  and  figure  erect;  the  still  slower, 
and  difficult,  rise,  without  the  slightest  jerk;  the 
graceful  motion  of  the  foot,  to  settle  the  train, 
avoiding  any  sudden  kick  backward;  and  the  ma- 
jestic gliding  away,  showing  neither  haste  nor 
hurry — such  a  feat  would  require  the  practice  of 
a  lifetime  to  be  performed  with  ease  and  grace,  and 
was  the  triumph  of  aristocracy  over  "parvenues." 

The  ladies  belonging  to  the  court  were  obliged 
to  wear  the  train  on  various  state  occasions,  but 
others  really  had  but  one  opportunity,  that  of 
the  New  Year's  reception.  The  dress  was  very 
expensive,  and  was  useless  anywhere  else,  so  the 
number  of  those  attending  these  receptions  gradu- 
ally diminished  every  year,  as  they  conferred  no 
privilege  with  regard  to  court  invitations. 

The  spring  always  brought  a  sort  of  deliverance  to 
the  Empress,  who,  during  the  winter  months,  could 
not  conveniently  take  the  air  except  in  a  carriage. 

The  Emperor  finally  inclosed  a  portion  of  the 
garden,  and  of  the  terrace  bordering  the  river,  for 
the  use  of  his  son  and  occasionally  for  himself; 
but  the  space  was  so  narrow  and  so  devoid  of 
privacy  that  the  Empress  seldom  took  advantage 
of  it.  The  little  Prince  habitually  went  in  his  car- 
riage, with  his  escort,  to  "Bagatelle,"  a  residence 
with  grounds,  situated  in  the   Bois   de  Boulogne, 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  101 

which  belonged  to  the  Marquis  of  Hertford,  where 
he  played  freely  with  his  little  friend  Conneau,  his 
habitual  cornpauion,  son  of  the  Emperor's  physician 
and  old  friend,  who  had  prepared  his  escape  from 
the  fortress  of  Ham.  The  Emperor  had  vainly  tried 
to  buy  "  Bagatelle "  from  Lord  Hertford,  but  the 
latter  was  bound  by  a  promise  made  to  the  Du- 
chesse  de  Berry,  mother  of  the  Comte  de  Cham- 
bord,  from  whom  he  had  purchased  it  with  the 
condition  that  he  would  not  sell  it,  and  that  she 
could  redeem  it  at  pleasure. 

Consequently,  Lord  Hertford  could  only  beg  the 
Emperor  to  use  it  freely,  and  his  kindness  was  ac- 
cepted for  the  benefit  of  the  Prince  Imperial. 

When  the  season  was  over,  it  was  a  relief  to  the 
imperial  family  to  seek  the  country  residences, 
where  large  parks  gave  them  comparative  liberty. 
Usually  the  spring  brought  them  to  Fontainebleau, 
an  immense  and  splendid  palace,  with  extensive 
grounds,  and  the  beautiful  forest  so  noted  for  its 
picturesque  scenery. 

Before  leaving  the  Tuileries  the  Empress,  with 
her  dress  protected  by  a  black  silk  apron,  and  as- 
sisted by  one  of  her  attendant  gentlemen,  put  away 
herself,  with  housewifely  care,  all  the  valuable  china 
and  pretty  ornaments  of  her  rooms,  also  giving  par- 
ticular orders  for  the  covering  of  her  furniture,  even 
of  her  walls,  and  thus  leaving  everything  perfectly 
protected  from  any  possible  injury  of  dust  or  sun 
before  quitting  the  palace. 


102  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

All  the  repairs  in  the  internal  arrangement,  not 
only  of  the  imperial  apartments,  but  also  those  of 
the  whole  household,  were  managed  by  the  uphol- 
stery department,  called  "  La  Regie,"  whose  rule  was 
supreme,  and  often  very  inconvenient,  as  no  strange 
workmen  were  admitted,  and  those  employed  by 
La  Regie  had  skeleton  keys,  asking  leave  of  no  one 
before  entering  one's  private  apartments. 

"  We  have  orders  from  La  Regie,"  was  the  reply 
to  every  remonstrance. 

"But  why  did  you  not  execute  these  repairs 
during  our  absence,  instead  of  removing  our  chairs 
and  tables  just  when  we  absolutely  require  them!" 

"We  had  not  received  orders." 

It  was  necessary,  on  temporarily  leaving  the  pal- 
ace for  any  time,  to  put  away  carefully  in  private 
receptacles  all  valuables  or  papers;  for,  if  left  in 
the  imperial  articles  of  furniture,  the  slightest  ap- 
parent flaw  would  cause  everything  to  be  turned 
out  and  left  to  the  mercy  or  inquisitiveness  of  ser- 
vants, while  repairs  were  being  executed.  There 
was  no  intention  of  prying  or  investigation  in  these 
proceedings,  but  merely  utter  indifference  as  to  the 
consequences  and  the  annoyance  of  the  victims. 
No  parcel  of  any  importance  could  be  removed 
from  the  palace  without  the  authorization  of  La 
Regie — perhaps  a  necessary  measure  of  precau- 
tion to  prevent  imperial  or  national  property  from 
being  disposed  of  by  unscrupulous  officials. 

With    regard    to   the   proceedings   of  La  Regie, 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  103 

I  can  quote  my  own  experience,  having  literally 
had  all  my  furniture  removed,  and  being  left  to 
stand  in  the  empty  room  without  a  seat  till  I 
begged  two  chairs  from  my  neighbor  in  the  pal- 
ace, the  Archbishop  of  Bourges. 

In  the  beginning  of  my  stay  at  the  Tuileries, 
on  returning  with  the  de  Tascher  family  after  an 
interval  of  absence,  I  was  roused  to  considerable 
indignation  on  finding  that  the  bureau  in  which  I 
had  locked  all  my  private  letters  and  papers  had 
been  taken  away  for  trifling  repairs,  and  the  con- 
tents tumbled  out,  so  that  any  one  might  read  all 
that  had  been  left  there.  I  was  so  angry  that  on 
going  to  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano,  whose  kindness 
encouraged  me  to  frequent  visits  in  her  apart- 
ments, I  could  not  help  expressing  my  vexation 
at  the  petty  annoyances  of  the  administration  of 
the  palace ;  but  she  told  me  that  she  was  not  more 
privileged  than  I  was  myself,  and  quoted  instances 
of  what  she  had  to  endure  in  the  way  of  such 
provoking  measures,  adding  that  before  leaving 
the  palace  she  always  put  her  letters  and  papers 
in  large  sealed  envelopes,  as  the  only  way  of  insur- 
ing safety. 

I  remember  once  going  through  a  complete  siege 
for  three  days,  when  I  was  alone  at  the  Tuileries, 
being  determined  to  keep  out  La  Regie  till  the 
day  of  my  own  departure.  I  had  not  accompanied 
the  family  on  this  occasion.  Being  far  from  well  in 
health,  the  waters  of   Spa,  in   Belgium,  had  been 


104  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

ordered  for  rue;  and  it  had  been  settled  that  I 
should  accept  the  kindly  offered  protection  of  the 

Princess  S (who  was  going  there  for  her  own 

health),  and  that  I  should  spend  three  weeks  there. 
I  had  naturally  prepared  suitable  dresses  for  the 
occasion,  and  everything  was  laid  out,  ready  for 
packing,  when  an  authoritative  knock  at  the  door 
was  heard  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"What  is  the  matter?" 

"La  Regie." 

"  Good  Heavens  !  what  does  La  Regie  want  1 " 

"  We  have  to  remove  the  furniture  —  to  take 
up  the  carpets — and  to  wax  the  floors." 

"But  you  have  to  attend  to  the  apartments 
of  the  whole  family ;  why  must  you  begin  with  my 
rooms  !  " 

"Our  orders  are  to  begin  here." 

I  had  only  partially  opened  my  door,  which  I 
closed  at  once  with  a  peremptory  refusal;  and  by 
another  exit  I  flew  to  the  quarters  of  the  head 
upholsterer,  who  was  in  bed  with  the  influenza,  and 
could  not  be  seen.  I  negotiated,  however,  with  his 
housekeeper,  and  forcibly  brought  her  to  my  rooms, 
of  which  I  had  taken  the  key.  When  she  saw  my 
preparations,  her  Frenchwoman's  heart  was  touched, 
and  admitting  that  it  would  be  a  great  pity  to  spoil 
my  arrangements,  she  returned  to  mediate  with  her 
master,  coming  back  triumphantly  with  a  three 
days'  truce,  granted  to  me  on  condition  that  I 
should  "defend  myself,  and  not  allow  any  one  to 
come  in." 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  105 

Consequently  I  remained  with  locked  doors, 
stoutly  resisting  all  attacks,  and  parleyed  with  the 
servant,  who  attended  on  rne,  before  opening  the 
door  to  allow  him  to  bring  in  rny  meals. 

On  the  third  day  of  siege,  in  the  morning,  a 
knock  came.  Very  angry  at  the  perseverance 
shown   I   called   sharply  through   the  key-hole: 

"I  have  told  you  again  and  again  that  I  will 
not  let  you  in.  It  is  of  no  use  to  persist  in  this 
way;  you  shall  not  come  in,  and  I  will  not  open 
the  door." 

A  laughing  voice  answered: 

"Is  that  the  way  you  receive  the  visits  of  your 
friends?" 

"Why,  who  is  there?" 

"The  Prince  de  Beauvau." 

"  Oh,  good  heavens,  Prince ! "  I  exclaimed,  and 
opened  the  door  to  my  visitor,  who  was  immensely 
amused,  saying  that  he  had  found  the  doors  open, 
everything  topsy-turvy,  and  no  servants  at  hand; 
so  he  had  come  straight  to  my  rooms,  as  he  re- 
quired some  information  from  me,  and  had  met  with 
a  very  unexpected  reception. 

When  the  war  with  Austria  for  the  liberation 
of  Italy  was  declared,  and  the  Empress  appointed 
Regent,  the  court  after  the  departure  of  the  Em- 
peror went  to  St.  Cloud,  and  the  usual  visit  to 
Fontainebleau  was  consequently  omitted.  The 
Empress  took  her  new  duties  in  earnest,  holding 
three  councils   every  week,  of  which  two  were  at 


106  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

the  Tuileries ;   but  the  distance  from  St.  Cloud  is 
trifling. 

The  destruction  of  St.  Cloud  (by  the  Prussians) 
is  perhaps  still  more  to  be  lamented  than  that  of 
the  Tuileries.  It  was  a  beautiful  palace,  with 
everything  that  could  make  a  summer  residence 
delightful,  not  too  large,  and  of  particularly  grace- 
ful architecture  and  proportions.  "Withal,  it  was 
so  conveniently  near  to  Paris,  that  the  sovereign 
was  always  within  easy  reach  of  the  ministers  and 
other  functionaries  who  required  to  see  him. 

Within  a  reasonable  walk  from  St.  Cloud,  through 
the  long  shady  avenues  of  the  park,  was  a  small 
country-house  called  "  Villeneuve  l'Etang,"  which  the 
Emperor  had  given  to  the  Empress,  who  liked  to 
play  the  part  of  Marie  Antoinette,  and  had  estab- 
lished a  Swiss  dairy  in  imitation  of  hers,  but  of 
more  really  rustic  appearance  than  that  of  Trianon. 
The  grounds  were  prettily  laid  out  rather  in  the 
same  style,  and  some  charming  "garden  parties," 
as  they  would  now  be  called,  had  been  given  there. 
The  house  was  not  remarkable  in  any  way;  but 
the  principal  room  had  furniture,  dating  from  the 
First  Empire,  which  had  been  entirely  embroidered 
by  Josephine  and  her  ladies;  the  initial  of  her 
name,  formed  by  small  pink  roses  interlaced  as  a 
monogram,  was  worked  on  a  ground  of  white  silk 
with  pretty  effect. 

The  absence  of  the  Emperor  prevented  all  fes- 
tivities at  Villeneuve  l'Etang  or  elsewhere;  but  we 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  107 

often  walked  in  the  shady  avenues  leading  to  it,  or 
in  the  lovely  garden  nearer  to  the  palace,  which 
was  devoted  to  the  especial  nse  of  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, then  three  years  old. 

We  were  invited  to  meet  him  at  a  breakfast,  or 
rather  collation,  prepared  for  him  by  his  state  gov- 
erness, Madame  l'Amirale  Brnat,  "  Gouvernante 
des  Enfants  de  France."  The  little  Prince,  of 
course  a  mere  baby,  was  accompanied  by  his  Eng- 
lish nurse,  known  as  "Miss  Shaw,"  a  perfect  speci- 
men of  the  ruler  of  a  nursery  among  the  British 
aristocracy.  She  had  no  easy  task  in  defending  the 
child  from  the  too  exuberant  endearments  of  the 
young  ladies  present,  and  energetically  protested 
in  English,  that  they  were  "worrying  him  and 
frightening  him."  The  little  Prince,  of  course, 
spoke  English  perfectly,  having  learned  the  lan- 
guage from  her;  but  it  was  remarked,  as  a  curious 
instance  of  childish  instinct  and  of  tact  worthy  of 
riper  years,  that  nothing  could  induce  him  to  sj>eak 
English  when  any  French  were  present. 

When  the  nurse  had  extricated  the  little  Prince 
from  his  too  numerous  admirers,  he  stood  in  the 
circle,  silent  and  evidently  shy,  a  pale,  grave  child, 
with  large,  earnest,  blue  eyes  and  brown  curls,  in 
a  very  simple  white  frock.  I  was  standing  a  little 
aloof  from  the  crowd  pressing  round  him,  but,  to 
my  surprise,  he  looked  toward  me  with  a  fixed  gaze, 
probably  because  I  had  let  him  alone. 

The  English  nurse  followed  his  eyes,  saying  im- 


10S  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

mediately:  "You  like  that  lady,  my  Prince?  Go 
to  her."  He  came  toward  me,  holding  out  his  little 
hand  and  still  looking  at  me  intently.  The  nurse 
then  said :  "  Get  her  a  flower ;  go,  get  her  a  flower." 
He  started  off,  and  soon  came  back,  holding  a 
rose.  Of  course  there  was  a  rush  to  have  it,  but 
he  held  it  high  above  his  head,  refusing  to  give 
the  flower,  and,  running  to  where  I  stood,  very 
gracefully  handed  it  to  me. 

I  have  kept  the  faded  leaves  of  that  rose,  with- 
ered like  the  budding  hopes  which  then  surrounded 
that  little  royal  head. 

The  great  treat  which  had  been  provided  for  him 
on  this  occasion  was  a  play,  performed  by  pup- 
pets that  gave  vent  to  all  sorts  of  flattery  con- 
cerning his  "illustrious  parents,"  with  allusions 
to  the  war,  and  the  glory  of  his  family,  all  of 
which  must  have  been  incomprehensible  even  to 
a  royal  baby  only  three  years  old.  He  was  seated 
in  an  arm-chair  in  front  of  the  spectators,  and 
was  quiet  for  some  time,  evidently  expecting  that 
something  was  coming;  but,  after  showing  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  patience,  he  could  endure  the 
trial  no  longer,  and  looking  round  with  a  most 
diverting  expression  of  absolute  astonishment,  he 
energetically  exclaimed : 

"But  this  play  is  not  at  all  amusing!" 

There  was  a  general  laugh,  and  the  little  Prince 
was  liberated  from  such  wearisome  pleasures. 

He  was  at  that  time  an  unusually  grave  child; 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  109 

but,  as  he  grew  older,  boyish  mischief  had  its  turn, 
and  he  became  as  noisy  as  any  others  of  his  own 
age. 

He  was  always  extremely  fond  of  everything 
belonging  to  the  army;  the  great  interest  of  his 
little  life  lay  in  changes  of  guards  and  regiments, 
their  music,  their  flags  and  drums;  and  his  delight 
was  great  when  he  was  allowed  to  wear  a  military 
uniform  himself.  When  he  was  naughty,  he  was 
told  that  he  "disgraced  his  uniform,"  and  this  was 
more  efficacious  than  ordinary  punishment. 

Like  most  young  children,  he  disliked  eatiDg 
soup,  and  to  induce  him  to  take  it,  he  was  told 
that  he  must  eat  soup  "to  make  him  grow."  He 
pondered  over  this  assertion,  and  submitted  to  the 
soup  as  a  necessity;  but,  some  time  afterward,  seeing 
a  tall  grenadier  mounting  guard,  the  child  stood  be- 
fore him,  gazing  at  him  with  his  grave,  earnest 
eyes.  Finally  he  said  to  him,  with  deep  conviction 
in  his  tone : 

"  You  must  have  eaten  a  great  quantity  of  soup ! " 

When,  after  the  victory  of  Solferino,  there  was 
a  solemn  "Te  Deum"  of  thanksgiving  at  Notre 
Dame,  it  was  considered  advisable  for  the  little 
Prince  to  accompany  the  Empress,  who  attended 
in  state;  but  there  was  some  anxiety  as  to  the 
possibility  of  keeping  such  a  young  child  quiet 
during  the  ceremony. 

However,  he  behaved  with  exemplary  gravity, 
and  on  returning  to  St.  Cloud  informed  his  gov- 


110  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILERIES 

erness  that  he  "wanted  another  'Te  Deurn,'"  a 
wish  which  awakened  a  general  echo.  But  hostil- 
ities were  immediately  ended  by  the  Treaty  of 
Villafranca. 

The  General  Comte  de  Tascher  had  said  to  me  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war: 

"My  experience  of  the  wars  of  the  First  Em- 
pire has  proved  to  me  that  everything  depends 
on  the  first  encounter.  If  our  men  are  then  vic- 
torious, the  campaign  will  be  successful  from  first 
to  last;  but  the  French  cannot  stand  defeat,  and 
once  disheartened,  nothing  more  can  be  done  with 
them." 

The  truth  of  this  appreciation  became  painfully 
evident  during  the  Franco-Grerman  war.  Happily, 
the  Italian  campaign  began  with  victories. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  great  review  —  Canrobert — MacMahon  —  The  Zouaves — The 
flag  with  the  ribbon  and  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  —  Vio- 
lent rush  of  the  crowd  —  I  owe  my  life  to  Robert  de  Tascher  — 
Court  starvation  on  gala  days. 


THE  Emperor's  return  was  anxiously  expected, 
and  I  can  still  vividly  recall  the  sensation  in  the 
chapel  at  the  palace  of  St.  Cloud,  when  "L'Ein- 
pereur ! "  was  announced  just  before  the  mass 
began,  and  he  appeared  in  the  gallery,  having 
arrived  during  the  night,  looking  much  bronzed 
by  the  Italian  sun,  but  grave  and  calm  as  usual. 

After  the  Emperor's  return,  I  accompanied  the 
Duchesse  de  Tascher  and  her  elder  daughter  to 
see  the  great  review  of  the  troops  in  the  Place 
Vendome,  a  splendid  sight  which  left  a  lasting 
impression  on  my  mind  and  memory.  We  had 
seats  in  the  space  reserved  for  the  household,  next 
to  the  crimson  velvet  awning  prepared  for  the 
Empress  and  her  suite,  opposite  to  the  spot  where 
the  Emperor  was  stationed  on  horseback,  beneath 
the  column  bearing  the  statue  of  the  First  Em- 
peror. The  whole  of  the  Place  Vendome  was  filled 
with  tiers  of  seats,  rising  one  above  another  to  the 

in 


112  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERILJ 

first  floors  of  the  houses,  and  forming  a  complete 
arena,  where  the  troops,  arriving  by  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix,  turned  round  the  column  and  passed  before 
the  Emperor  and  Empress. 

Scarcely  had  we  taken  our  seats,  when  the  Due 
de  Tascher  came  to  us,  sent  by  the  Empress  to 
fetch  his  wife  and  daughter,  whom  she  wished  to 
have  with  her.  I  remained  therefore  under  the 
care  of  the  Duke's  son,  Comte  Robert  de  Tascher. 

The  heat  was  so  intense  that  I  felt  inclined  to 
envy  the  shade  of  the  awning  which  protected  the 
imperial  party!  The  Emperor  was  before  us,  how- 
ever, motionless  on  his  horse,  in  the  glaring  sun, 
of  which  we  really  had  as  little  as  possible. 

The  whole  scene  was  rather  theatrical,  but  stir- 
ring and  impressive  in  the  greatest  degree.  As 
the  regiments  passed  us,  amidst  the  shouts  of  the 
spectators,  the  vacant  places  were  left  in  the  lines, 
showing  the  losses  sustained — a  sad  sight.  But 
the  excitement  was  so  great  that  everything  was 
forgotten  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  present  hour, 
as  each  regiment  was  greeted  by  name  with  loud 
cries  and  applause.  As  the  flags  passed,  burned 
and  pierced  by  the  shots  received,  every  one  felt 
electrified. 

Suddenly  a  shout  arose: 

"  Canrobert !     Canrobert ! " 

And  the  Marshal  appeared  on  a  prancing  horse, 
waving  his  sword  with  his  usual  rather  theatrical 
air,  while    the    cries    of    "Vive    Canrobert!"    rose 


•o       > 


>  Z 

-o  > 

O  v, 

o  = 

p  > 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  113 

louder  and  louder,  as  he  passed  before  the  Em- 
peror, and  a  profusion  of  flowers  fell  around  him. 

"  MacMahon !    MacMahon ! " 

The  hero  of  Magenta  rode  quietly  forward, — a 
perfect  gentleman  and  a  perfect  horseman,  shown 
even  by  the  manner  in  which  he  held  his  bridle, 
the  hand  seemed  so  sure,  so  firm  and  steady.  He 
was  evidently  vexed  and  disconcerted  by  the  com- 
motion which  his  appearance  caused,  and  persis- 
tently looked  down,  without  seeming  to  accept  the 
popular  enthusiasm  as  addressed  to  himself  per- 
sonally. A  wreath  was  thrown,  which  fell  over  his 
head  down  to  his  shoulders;  he  seemed  to  feel 
that  he  was  being  made  ridiculous,  and  tore  it 
off  hastily,  putting  it  over  his  horse's  neck  before 
him.  MacMahon  was  by  nature  shy  and  unpre- 
tending; on  this  occasion  he  was  evidently  very 
anxious  to  get  over  the  ordeal  of  the  honors  show- 
ered upon  him. 

"  Les  Zouaves !     Les  Zouaves ! " 

There  was  a  thundering  shout,  and  the  Zouaves, 
who  had  scaled  the  seemingly  inaccessible  heights 
of  Solferino,  thereby  deciding  the  fate  of  the  bat- 
tle, came  proudly  forward,  bearing  high  their  flag, 
a  mere  remnant  clinging  to  the  staff,  proving 
through  what  a  struggle  the  glorious  emblem  had 
been  carried  on  to  victory.  The  whole  regiment 
having  deserved  the  reward  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor,  the  flag  bore  the  red  ribbon  and  cross  — 
but  alas !    how  few  followed  it  to  share  the  hard- 


114  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

won  giory!  Nevertheless,  the  sight  was  not  to  be 
forgotten,  and  no  one  conld  help  sharing  the  gen- 
eral enthusiasm.  The  old  Comte  de  Tascher, 
however,  who  had  seen  the  victories  of  the  first 
Napoleon,  looked  grave  and  anxious  when  I  spoke 
to  him  of  the  stirring  scene.  The  Countess,  in 
answer  to  my  warm  congratulations,  said: 

"  The  Emperor  is  wonderfully  fortunate  in  all  he 
undertakes — too  fortunate.  A  day  must  come  when 
all  this  will  be  reversed." 

Happily,  neither  saw  that  fatal  day  when  it  came, 
as  they  predicted. 

As  if  to  foreshadow  the  future,  a  tremendous 
storm  burst  over  us  before  the  glorious  review 
was  ended,  and  Robert  de  Tascher  hastily  led  me 
under  the  shelter  of  one  of  the  houses  behind  us 
(for  the  rain  poured  in  torrents),  to  the  great  in- 
dignation of  an  old  gentleman  near  us,  who  de- 
clared that  it  was  perfectly  disgraceful  to  see 
women  thinking  only  of  their  clothes,  when  the 
Emperor,  who  was  being  drenched  to  the  skin 
before  us,  was  motionless  on  his  horse. 

The  downpour  was,  however,  of  short  duration, 
and  we  were  able  to  return  to  our  seats.  But  when 
all  was  over,  and  we  left  the  Place  Vendome,  al- 
though we  had  prudently  waited  till  our  exit 
seemed  perfectly  safe,  there  was  a  fearful  and  un- 
expected rush  of  the  crowd  in  the  Rue  Castiglione 
to  see  the  Empress,  and  I  certainly  owed  my  life 
on  that  occasion   to   the  physical  vigor   and  cool 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  115 

presence  of  mind  shown  by  Comte  Robert  de 
Tascher,  with  whom  I  finally  reached  the  Tuileries, 
where  I  was  to  meet  my  elder  pupil,  who  returned 
with  me  to  St.  Cloud,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  hav- 
ing to  attend  the  court  banquet.  We  had  left  at 
half-past  seven  in  the  morning,  and  did  not  get 
back  till  the  same  hour  of  the  evening.  Of  course 
refreshments  had  been  prepared  for  the  Empress, 
and  those  who  accompanied  her  were  able  to  par- 
take of  them ;  but  I  could  have  literally  nothing, 
and  when  I  reached  the  Tuileries  (all  our  own 
cookery  department  being  at  St.  Cloud),  nothing 
was  to  be  had  but  one  or  two  small  cakes,  which 
Robert  de  Tascher  managed  to  procure  for  me,  and 
which  constituted  my  sole  support  for  twelve  hours. 
But  such  inconveniences  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  court  life. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Paris  in  the  early  days  of  the  Second  Empire  —  Diplomatic  changes 
after  the  Italian  war — A  great  name — A  young  ambassadress — 
Eccentricities  of  the  Princess  Metternich  —  Her  imprudence  and 
morbid  curiosity  —  Anecdotes  —  A  "  real "  Empress  —  Practical 
joke  on  a  lady-in-waiting  —  Dispute  with  Madame  de  Per- 
signy  —  Why  the  Princess  Metternich  could  not  yield  to  her  — 
Count  Sandor  —  His  strange  exploits  —  Practical  joke  on  his 
old  housekeeper  —  Imperial  hospitality  at  Compiegne  —  Dresses 
required  for  the  week's  visit  —  Daily  life  of  the  visitors  —  Kind- 
ness of  the  Imperial  hosts  —  Five  o'clock  tea  in  the  private 
apartments  of  the  Empress  —  Evenings  —  Questionable  diver- 
sions provided  by  the  Princess  Metternich  —  Exaggerated  re- 
ports—  Personal  description  of  the  Princess  Metternich  — 
General  Fleury. 


A  FTER  the  Italian  war,  there  were  necessarily  im- 
jLa.  portant  changes  in  the  great  diplomatic  posts, 
and  Baron  von  Hiibner  (best  known  to  the  general 
public  by  his  interesting  travels,  which  show  con- 
siderable acuteness  of  observation),  was  replaced  at 
the  Austrian  embassy  by  Prince  Richard  Metternich. 
A  great  historical  name  is  often  an  inconvenient 
inheritance,  by  raising  too  great  expectations ;  and 
the  agreeable,  well-bred  Austrian  gentleman  who 
bore  this  title  was  certainly  not  equal  to  those 
which  it  awakened.  He  was  soon  better  known 
by  his  wife's  eccentricities  than  by  his  own  merits. 

116 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIEE  117 

Too  young  in  every  respect  for  such  a  position  as 
that  of  ambassadress,  the  Princess  Metternich  soon 
attracted  unfavorable  notice  by  her  strange  ways 
and  fancies,  which  first  astonished  Parisian  society, 
and  then  provoked  severe  criticism. 

The  Princess  Metternich  was  a  mere  wayward, 
spoiled  child,  who  imagined  that  her  high  rank 
authorized  her  to  defy  all  rules  of  decorum;  and 
that,  so  long  as  she  abstained  from  what  was  ab- 
solutely wicked,  she  could  do  anything  she  pleased. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  sort  of  intoxication 
in  the  very  atmosphere  of  Paris,  a  fever  of  en- 
joyment— a  passion  for  constant  amusement,  for 
constant  excitement,  and,  amongst  women,  for  ex- 
travagance of  dress.  This  was  encouraged  by  the 
court,  with  the  intention  of  giving  an  impetus  to 
trade,  and  of  gaining  popularity  by  favoring  con- 
stant festivities  and  consequently  constant  expense. 
In  the  days  of  Louis  Philippe  there  had  been  great 
moderation  in  all  matters  of  luxury;  the  King  and 
Queen  were  aged,  sensible  and  economical;  the 
young  princesses  were  kept  within  rigid  bounds  by 
the  example  above  them.  But  when  the  Emperor 
came  to  the  throne,  after  a  period  of  revolution  and 
consequent  commercial  stagnation,  he  wished  to  re- 
vive trade,  and  also  to  give  the  prestige  of  splendor 
to  a  court  which  so  many  did  not  seem  to  take  in 
earnest.  His  beautiful  wife,  suddenly  raised  to  a 
supreme  position  for  which  nothing  in  her  previ- 
ous  life   had   prepared  her,  finding   what    seemed 

8* 


118  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

unlimited  means  within  her  reach,  keenly  enjoyed 
the  possibility  of  procuring  everything  that  pleased 
her,  and  enhanced  her  remarkable  personal  attrac- 
tions by  all  the  advantages  of  exquisite  toilette 
without  consideration  of  cost.  Everything  that  she 
wore  suited  her  admirably;  others  tried  to  imitate 
her,  and  the  general  tone  became  raised.  She  had 
the  art  of  constantly  choosing  something  new  and 
unusual,  which  attracted  attention,  so  that,  instead 
of  being  satisfied  with  conventional  types  of  silks 
and  satins,  which  formerly  had  been  considered 
sufficient  for  all  occasions,  every  one  tried  to  invent 
something  different  from  others,  and  to  improve 
upon  what  had  been  seen  before.  Consequently, 
not  only  in  dress,  but  in  all  matters  of  taste  and 
luxury,  there  was  an  eager  struggle  to  outvie 
others,  to  reach  a  higher  degree  of  splendor,  and 
extravagance  became  universal.  Paris  was  a  sort 
of  fairyland,  where  every  one  lived  only  for  amuse- 
ment, and  where  every  one  seemed  rich  and  happy. 
"What  lay  underneath  all  this,  would  not  bear  close 
examination  —  the  dishonorable  acts  of  all  kinds, 
which  too  often  were  needed  to  produce  the  glamour 
deceiving  superficial  observers. 

Into  this  hotbed  of  "pomps  and  vanities"  came 
the  young  and  thoughtless  Princess  Metternich, 
with  all  the  pride  characterizing  the  high  aristoc- 
racy of  her  native  land,  and  fully  disposed  both 
to  enjoy,  and  to  despise,  what  awaited  her.  She 
had  been  accustomed  to  the  restricted  society  of 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  119 

Vienna,  composed  of  distinct  circles,  wheels  within 
wheels  according  to  rank  and  social  privileges, 
those  belonging  to  each  circle  keeping  aloof  from 
all  others,  marrying  only  amongst  their  equals,  and 
associating  exclusively  together.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence, the  quintessence  of  the  aristocracy,  form- 
ing the  most  limited  among  these  circles,  becomes 
a  sort  of  large  family;  all  are  more  or  less  related 
to  each  other;  all  are  intimate  from  childhood.  In 
such  a  society,  the  hoydenish  ways  of  "Pauline" 
were  only  smiled  at,  and  were  not  of  much  conse- 
quence. But  when  she  came  to  a  cosmopolitan 
city  like  Paris,  full  of  observant  enemies,  who  did 
not  care  in  the  least  for  her  quarterings,  or  her 
faultless  pedigree,  and  did  not  admit  any  superi- 
ority, the  case  was  very  different.  Her  husband 
ought  to  have  understood  this,  and  to  have  inter- 
posed his  authority;  but  he  was  indolently  indif- 
ferent, and  when  his  wife  exceeded  all  social  limits, 
the  strongest  reproof  was  a  languid,  "Aber,  Pau- 
line ! "  which  in  no  way  acted  as  a  check. 

In  the  Princess  Metternich  was  an  inexplicable 
mixture  of  innate  high  breeding  and  acquired  tastes 
of  lower  degree.  When  she  appeared  in  society, 
at  her  very  entrance  there  could  be  no  [mistake : 
from  head  to  foot,  she  was  the  high-born  lady,  the 
grande  dame.  And  yet  she  had  an  extraordinary 
inclination  for  walking  on  the  edges  of  moral  quag- 
mires, and  peeping  into  them,  with  a  proud  con- 
viction  that  her  foot  could  never  slip.    There  are 


120  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

stories  of  her  imprudent  adventures;  but  she  es- 
caped unscathed,  and  had  no  other  motive  in 
seeking  them  than  curiosity — foolish,  morbid  curi- 
osity—  as  to  people  and  matters  which  should 
never  have  been  even  mentioned  in  her  presence. 
She  acted  with  a  degree  of  rashness  and  folly 
which  would  have  ruined  most  women ;  yet  no 
one  ever  really  attacked  her  reputation ;  all  allowed 
that,  according  to  the  expression  of  a  lady  of  the 
court,  she  had  never  "crossed  the  Rubicon." 

Notwithstanding  all  her  follies,  the  Princess  Met- 
ternich  was  far  from  being  silly:  on  the  contrary, 
she  had  considerable  wit,  and  great  sharpness  of 
repartee.  As  she  did  not  care  for  anything  she 
said,  her  retorts  were  often  very  clever,  and  always 
amusing,  but  too  free  to  be  easily  repeated.  She 
affected  masculine  manners.  When  she  first  arrived 
in  France  she  had  been  invited  to  Compiegne,  with 
other  ladies  of  the  "corps  diplomatique,"  and  on 
their  return  in  the  train,  Lord  Cowley,  then  British 
ambassador,  asked  if  he  might  be  indulged  in  a 
cigarette.  The  young  ambassadress  drew  from  her 
pocket  a  cigar-case  of  most  masculine  appearance, 
offered  him  a  formidable  cigar,  and  took  one  herself. 

Some  time  afterward  a  lady  of  my  acquaintance 
called  on  the  ambassadress  of  Austria.  The  major- 
domo  informed  her  that   "her  Highness"  was  in 

the  garden.    The  Comtesse  de  L stepped  into  the 

garden,  looking  about  her  wonderingly  in  search  of 
the  Princess,  when  a  voice,  seeming  to  come  from 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  121 

on  high,  called  to  her.  She  looked  up:  the  ambas- 
sadress was  lying  on  her  back,  in  a  hammock  slung 
among  the  trees,  smoking  a  cigar. 

Her  will  alone  seemed  to  her  so  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify her  acts  that,  haughty  as  she  was,  she  did  not 
hesitate  to  invite  to  her  dinner-table  the  celebrated 
"  Theresa,"  a  singer  whom  no  one  else,  at  that  time, 
would  have  dared  to  receive,  and  yet  from  whom 
the  Princess  Metternich  condescended  to  take  les- 
sons, in  order  to  sing  her  bold  songs  with  duly 
pointed  emphasis. 

The  mischief  done  by  the  example  of  the  Prin- 
cess Metternich  in  Parisian  society  is  indescribable. 
She  threw  down  the  barrier  which  hitherto  had 
separated  respectable  women  from  those  who  were 
not,  and  led  the  way  to  a  liberty  of  speech  and 
liberty  of  action  which  were  unknown  before.  She 
was  much  attached  to  her  husband,  and,  in  essen- 
tials, she  was  a  good  wife;  others,  less  favorably 
situated,  may  not  have  escaped,  as  she  did,  from 
the  natural  consequences  of  looking  too  closely 
over  the  frontier  of  the  Debatable  Land.  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  excessive  pride  of  the  Prin- 
cess Metternich  may  have  led  her  to  imagine  that 
in  Paris  she  might  do  anything  without  compro- 
mising her  dignity.  She  was  intimate  with  a  lady 
who,  although  received  everywhere  in  Parisian  so- 
ciety, did  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently  her  equal  in 
rank  to  become  her  friend.  To  a  remark  on  the 
subject,   she   carelessly   answered :    "  Oh,   it   is    all 


122  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

very  well  here — of  course,  I  could  not  see  her  in 
Vienna ! " 

She  was  reported  to  have  made  a  more  impertinent 
speech  at  Compiegne  while  on  a  visit  there.  The 
short,  looped-up  skirts  were  just  beginning  to  be 
worn ;  the  Empress  had  not  yet  habitually  adopted 
them,  and  the  Princess  Metternich  had  been  urg- 
ing her  to  appear  thus  dressed  on  the  public  occa- 
sion of  the  races  in  the  town,  against  the  opinion  of 
her  ladies.  "When  the  Empress  left  the  room,  one 
of  the  ladies-in-waiting  said  to  the  Princess : 

"Would  you  give  the  same  advice  to  your 
Empress  ?  " 

"Oh,  no,"  said  the  Princess;  "but  the  case  is 
quite  different  —  the  Empress  Elizabeth  is  a  real 
Empress." 

I  have  no  positive  information  as  to  the  absolute 
trustworthiness  of  this  report ;  but  it  was  not  unlike 
the  style  of  the  Princess  Metternich,  and  was  cur- 
rently repeated. 

On  another  occasion  at  Compiegne,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Empress,  on  a  rainy  day,  which  had 
brought  some  dullness  to  the  circle,  the  Princess 
Metternich,  by  way  of  diversion,  suddenly  seized 
one  of  the  ladies-in-waiting,  tripped  her  up  in 
school-boy  fashion,  and  laid  her  flat  on  her  back 
prostrate  on  the  floor.  This  was  told  to  me  by 
an  eye-witness  of  the  scene,  which  shocked  every 
one  present,  the  more  so  as  the  victim  chosen,  the 

Comtesse  de  M ,  was  particularly  lady-like,  quiet, 

and  unoffending. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  123 

The  Empress  was  never  really  intimate  with 
the  Princess  Metternich,  but  she  liked  her,  on 
the  whole,  and  her  oddities  amused  her,  so  she  was 
always  a  welcome  guest,  especially  in  the  country- 
residences,  such  as  Fontainebleau  and  Compiegne, 
where  invitations  were  greatly  extended,  and  where 
the  "series,"  as  they  were  called,  of  about  eighty 
visitors  at  a  time,  for  a  week's  stay,  rendered 
amusement  for  all  an  arduous  task  to  the  kind 
imperial  hosts. 

The  hospitality  of  Fontainebleau  and  Compiegne, 
but  particularly  the  latter,  was  dispensed  in  the 
most  liberal  manner,  and  nothing  was  neglected 
that  could  make  the  guests  enjoy  the  visit,  which, 
however,  was  perhaps  too  much  prolonged  for  plea- 
sure, on  both  sides.  The  invitations  were  for  a 
week,  but  those  particularly  favored  were  requested 
to  remain  for  another  "series";  the  fatigue  was 
excessive,  and  every  one  felt  surprise  that  the  Em- 
press could  continue  such  a  life  for  several  weeks. 

In  the  spring  the  court  went  to  Fontaine- 
bleau, but  the  invitations  were  of  a  less  general 
kind,  and  were  confined  more  to  those  in  some  way 
connected  with  the  court  itself,  and  considered  as 
friends.  There  were  also  foreign  princes  and  the 
members  of  their  embassies;  but  the  style  was 
more  exclusive  than  at  Compiegne,  where  every 
one  of  any  note  was  invited  at  least  once.  Paint- 
ers, composers,  literary  men,  were  included  in  the 
"  series."    Their  wives  generally  did  not  accompany 


124  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEKIES 

thern,  and  the  masculine  costume  requiring  no  vari- 
ety, they  were  able  to  enjoy  the  imperial  hospitality 
without  too  much  expense ;  but  to  those  in  a  more 
aristocratic  position,  whose  wives  must  necessarily 
appear,  Compiegne  entailed  ruinous  consequences. 
It  was  understood  that  no  dress  could  be  worn 
more  than  once;  for  a  week's  stay  it  was  usual, 
therefore,  to  take  fifteen  dresses,  seven  of  which 
were  intended  for  the  evening,  and  consequently 
must  be  of  the  most  expensive  kind.  The  extra- 
vagance of  Compiegne  caused  so  much  blame  that 
the  Empress,  who  at  first  had  encouraged,  by  her 
example,  the  follies  of  those  around  her,  tried  to 
restrain  them  by  adopting  for  drives  and  walks  in 
the  forest  a  plain  skirt  of  black  silk  over  a  red 
woolen  or  tartan  underskirt;  but  this  only  caused 
additional  complications.  The  weather  in  Novem- 
ber was  not  always  favorable,  and  the  costume  was 
only  fit  for  out-door  wear.  Then  came  the  hunts  of 
Compiegne,  so  splendidly  organized ;  those  who  fol- 
lowed on  horseback  wore  the  hunting  uniform  of 
green  cloth,  trimmed  with  gold  lace  and  crimson 
velvet,  very  handsome,  but  necessarily  expensive. 

There  were  four  successive  "  series "  of  invita- 
tions for  Compiegne;  the  guests  of  each  "series" 
went  together  in  a  special  train  prepared  for  the 
occasion,  followed  by  innumerable  trunks  contain- 
ing the  dresses  provided  for  the  week. 

At  the  Compiegne  station  the  imperial  carriages 
awaited  the  guests,  taking  them  through  the  town 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  125 

to  the  palace,  which  was  brilliantly  lighted  up  to 
receive  them,  as  the  hour  of  arrival  was  late  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  season  November.  On  reaching 
the  palace,  a  splendid  vestibule  was  first  crossed 
between  two  rows  of  servants  in  the  imperial  liv- 
ery; the  Prefect  of  the  Palace  then  came  forward 
to  receive  the  guests,  assigning  to  each  group  a 
servant,  who  led  the  way  to  the  apartments  pre- 
pared for  them,  which  were  as  comfortable  and 
convenient  as  possible.  Everything  looked  cheer- 
ful and  encouraging  to  new-comers,  who  were  often 
rather  nervous  as  to  the  trial  before  them. 

Shortly  after  seven,  the  guests  assembled  in  the 
great  drawing-room  to  await  the  entrance  of  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  who  spoke  to  those  known 
to  them,  and  then  led  the  way  together  into  the 
immense  dining-hall,  where  the  dinner  was  served 
in  splendid  state.  A  band  played  during  dinner, 
after  which  their  Majesties  rose,  and  followed  by 
the  guests,  returned  to  the  drawing-room.  The 
great  difficulty  of  amusing,  during  a  whole  week, 
eighty  strangers  of  different  ranks  in  society  (many 
of  whom  knew  nothing  of  court  usage),  may  be  im- 
agined. The  Emperor  and  Empress  tried  to  speak 
to  every  one  with  the  greatest  kindness  and  sim- 
plicity of  manner,  begging  them  to  feel  perfectly 
at  home,  to  consider  themselves  free  to  abstain 
from  any  excursion  if  they  pref erred  not  to  join 
the  others,  to  do  exactly  as  they  pleased  with  re- 
gard  to   the  disposal    of    the   day;    but    naturally 


12  G  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

every  one  felt  that  this  indulgence  could  not  be 
interpreted  too  literally.  The  days  were  spent  in 
drives  through  the  forest  in  open  carriages,  which 
all  did  not  enjoy  in  November ;  the  celebrated  stag- 
hunts  of  Conipiegne,  followed  in  carriages  or  on 
horseback  at  pleasure;  shooting-parties  with  the 
Emperor,  etc.  At  five  o'clock  the  most  noted 
among  those  present — literary  men,  artists,  and  sci- 
entific celebrities — were  invited  to  take  tea  in  the 
private  apartment  of  the  Empress,  who  then  kindly 
and  with  much  tact  tried  to  draw  out  each  one 
by  leading  the  conversation  to  the  particular  sub- 
jects in  which  they  had  reached  fame.  These  con- 
versations, which  were  full  of  interest  to  those  who 
were  admitted  by  privilege,  delighted  the  Empress 
so  much  that  she  forgot  the  hour,  and  often  did 
not  give  the  signal  of  departure  till  seven  o'clock, 
a  cause  of  intense  anxiety  to  those  who,  having 
probably  a  considerable  distance  to  go  before  reach- 
ing their  apartments,  were  yet  obliged  to  be  punctu- 
ally ready  in  full  dress  before  half-past  seven,  when 
their  Majesties  made  their  appearance  before  dinner. 
The  evenings  were  the  most  trying  part  of  the 
day  here  as  elsewhere.  The  Princess  Metternich 
was  then  of  immense  resource  in  all  the  entertain- 
ments prepared  by  the  court.  She  sang  and  acted 
cleverly;  she  danced  as  if  she  had  been  trained  for 
the  ballet ;  she  got  up  charades,  plays,  "  tableaux 
vivants,"  in  short,  anything  that  was  required,  with 
a  spirit  and  animation  which  never  flagged. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  127 

But  matters  did  not  always  go  on  smoothly; 
there  were  differences  of  view  and  of  opinion, 
and  the  Princess  then  became  much  excited. 

On  one  occasion  of  this  kind  there  was  a  memo- 
rable dispute  with  Madame  de  Persigny,  wife  of  the 
well-known  statesman,  who  was  herself  equally  well 
known  for  her  caprices  of  temper.  Though  by  no 
means  sufficiently  witty  to  be  a  match  for  the 
sharp  tongue  of  the  Princess  Metternich,  she  was 
quite  able  by  her  obstinacy  to  destroy  the  effect  of 
all  the  plans  of  her  opponent.  The  Princess,  though 
by  nature  far  more  good-humored  than  Madame 
de  Persigny,  at  last  having  completely  lost  patience, 
appealed  to  the  Empress,  who,  much  annoyed  at 
the  dispute,  was  trying  in  vain  to  restore  peace: 

"Pray,  pray,  my  dear  Princess,  let  the  matter 
rest !  spare  her  —  remember  that  her  mother  is 
mad ! " 

"  So  her  mother  is  mad  ? "  retorted  the  Princess. 
"Well,  Madame,  my  father  is  mad;  so  why  should 
I  give  in  to  her?" 

The  argument  was  irresistible,  and  the  Empress 
could  not  help  laughing;  but  the  manner  in  which 
the  Princess  had  honored  her  father's  peculiarities 
was  received  in  general  with  more  amusement  than 
approbation. 

Count  Sandor,  the  father  of  the  Princess  Metter- 
nich, was  noted  for  his  eccentricities  and  wonderful 
adventures.  He  was  a  remarkable  horseman,  and 
performed  all  sorts  of  apparently  impossible  feats 


128  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

on  horseback,  risking  his  life  at  each  one,  and 
escaping  by  what  seemed  a  miracle,  or  rather  a 
succession  of  miracles ;  though  not  without  serious 
injuries,  some  of  which  had  affected  his  brain, 
according  to  public  rumor. 

A  collection  of  drawings  representing  these 
strange  performances  had  been  engraved  and  bound 
in  a  volume,  and  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examining 
this  series  of  crack-brained  exploits  and  hair-breadth 
escapes.  One  of  the  most  amusing  though  really 
the  most  pitiable  of  the  former,  represented  his 
houskeeper,  a  fat  old  woman,  with  an  agonized 
expression  of  fright  on  her  upturned  face,  held 
horizontally  by  two  men,  while  her  master  leaped 
his  horse  backward  and  forward  over  her.  The 
poor  creature  was  evidently  terrified  out  of  her 
senses,  and  no  wonder. 

The  Princess  Metternich  had  no  beauty ;  her  face 
was  of  absolutely  simian  type,  only  redeemed  by 
bright  intelligent  eyes;  her  complexion  was  dark, 
her  mouth  was  large,  and  her  nose  was  flat."  Even 
her  figure  was  more  than  slender,  and  devoid  of 
all  beauty  of  form;  but  owing  to  her  remarkable 
elegance  of  demeanor,  her  animated  expression  of 
countenance,  and  her  richly  fashionable  dress,  she 
was  considered  attractive,  notwithstanding  her 
physical  disadvantages. 

She  was  passionately  fond  of  dress,  and  in  this, 
as  in  all  things,  her  taste  led  her  into  eccentricity 
regardless  of  expense.   At  the  Austrian  embassy,  her 


EMPRESS   EUGENIE,   1863. 

FROM    A     PH^IOoKAl-H     lit     ut^HCtS     SPINGCER. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  129 

rooms,  furniture,  receptions,  carriages,  and  horses 
were  only  surpassed  by  the  court,  and  her  example 
had  a  pernicious  influence  on  the  general  mania  for 
extravagance  of  all  kinds. 

The  turnout  of  the  Emperor's  carriages,  horses, 
and  liveries  was  unsurpassed  in  Europe,  under  the 
direction  of  General  Fleury,  who  was  more  remark- 
able in  this  respect  than  as  a  military  commander. 
In  fact,  he  would  probably  never  have  reached  such 
high  promotion  had  he  not  been  the  friend  of  the 
Emperor,  and  his  auxiliary  in  the  "coup  d'etat," 
when  he  was  only  Captain  Fleury  at  the  Elysee. 
He  was  neither  liked  nor  much  esteemed  in  general ; 
but  he  certainly  performed  admirably  his  duties  as 
"Grand  ^cuyer,"  or  what  at  the  English  court 
would  be  termed  "Master  of  the  Horse." 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  were  the  kindest  of 
hosts,  most  anxious  to  amuse  their  guests  and  to 
make  their  visits  as  pleasant  as  possible;  therefore 
the  Princess  Metternich  was  welcome,  because  she 
brought  with  her  life  and  animation  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  her  performances  were  open  to  criticism 
with  regard  to  their  deficiency  in  that  refinement 
and  social  propriety  which  should  be  guarded  care- 
fully in  such  a  circle,  thus  gradually  drawing  on 
the  Empress  to  show  too  much  indulgence  when 
amused.  Unfortunately,  in  addition  to  the  dubious 
songs,  charades,  and  plays  got  up  by  the  Prin- 
cess Metternich,  romping  games  were  often  chosen 
a^    a    diversion;   which,  though   certainly   undigni- 


130  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

fied  and  ill  suited  to  those  beyond  school  years, 
had  not,  however,  the  character  attributed  to  them 
by  public  report,  nor  the  licentious  freedom  believed 
in  by  the  "  Faubourg  St.  Germain,"  and  so  contempt- 
uously sneered  at  by  its  aristocratic  inhabitants. 

The  mistake  lay  in  doing  on  a  large  scale  what 
ought  to  be  tolerated  only  among  intimate  friends 
and  very  young  people.  But  the  mean  ingratitude 
of  those  who  enjoyed  all  the  generous  kindness 
lavished  on  their  guests  by  the  imperial  hosts,  and 
then  disfigured  the  truth  to  sneer  at  them  with 
their  enemies,  was  too  contemptible  to  be  even 
mentioned  with  patience. 


CHAPTER  XII 

"Golden  wedding11  of  the  Comte  and  Cointesse  de  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie  —  Curious  story  of  a  lost  ring  —  Marriage  of  my  elder 
pupil  —  Prince  Maximilian  von  Tkurn  und  Taxis  —  Death  of 
the  Comte  de  Tascher — Kindness  and  affectionate  attentions  of 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  during  his  last  illness  —  Sorrow  of 
the  Emperor  —  The  Count  laid  out  in  state  —  Effect  on  the 
Empress  —  Her  nervous  condition  —  Her  private  sorrows  —  She 
begins  to  interfere  in  political  matters  —  Our  home  life  after 
the  death  of  the  Comte  de  Tascher  —  Home  evenings  —Weekly 
receptions  —  Ambassadors  Extraordinary  from  Oriental  lands 
—  The  Persian  Ambassador  —  The  Embassy  from  Siam  —  Re- 
ception at  Fontainebleau  —  The  hair-dresser  Leroy. 


THE  year  that  followed  the  war  with  Austria 
(the  fourth  of  my  residence  at  the  palace  of 
the  Tuileries)  was  marked  by  a  family  event,  the 
"golden  wedding,"  or  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
marriage  of  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie,  which  was  celebrated  at  Baden- 
Baden  in  the  presence  of  all  their  children  and 
grandchildren. 

A  curious  circumstance  occurred  on  this  occasion, 

which  is  worthy  of  mention.     The  (Princess)  Com- 

<q  de  Tascher  had  lost,  many  years  before,  her 

wedding-ring,  to  her  great  distress,  and  it  had  never 

been  found.     Shortly  before  the  festivities  of  the 

131 


132  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

"  golden  wedding,"  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  on 
looking  over  the  jewelry  left  by  her  mother,  the 
Grand-Duchess  of  Baden,  whose  death  had  occurred 
during  the  preceding  winter,  found  a  small  packet 
labeled :  "  The  wedding-ring  of  Amelie  von  der 
Leyen,  sold  by  a  Jew-peddler  as  having  belonged 
to  the  Empress  Josephine :  to  be  returned."  It  was 
evident  that  the  Grand-Duchess,  who  was  the  most 
absent-minded  of  women,  had  put  this  away  carefully 
and  entirely  forgotten  it.  The  Duchess  of  Hamilton, 
seeing  the  inscription  engraved  inside :  "  L.  Tas- 
cher  de  la  Pagerie* — A.  von  der  Leyen," — with  the 
date  of  their  marriage,  sent  it  to  the  Count  with 
the  above  explanation.  He  kept  the  matter  secret 
till  the  "golden  wedding,"  when  the  ring  which 
had  been  lost  for  so  long  was  again  placed  on  the 
finger  of  Amelie  von  der  Leyen  on  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  marriage  which  had  taken  place 
under  such  sad  circumstances. 

I  was  much  moved  on  this  occasion  by  the  kind- 
ness of  the  old  Count,  who  called  me  to  him, 
saying :  "  My  dear,  in  commemoration  of  my  fiftieth 
wedding-day  I  have  had  rings  made  for  all  my  chil- 
dren, and  here  is  yours.''''  I  have  always  worn  it 
since,  and  kept  it  as  a  precious  memorial. 

*  The  Empress  Josephine  having  adopted  the  habit  of  signing  her 
name  "Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,"  without  the  "de,"  the  family  followed 
her  example  till  the  title  of  Duke,  attached  to  the  name  of  Tascher, 
obliged  them  to  resume  the  "de."  The  title  was  "Due  de  Tascher," 
and  not  "  de  la  Pagerie,"  an  addition  to  the  name  which  merely  served 
to  distinguish  the  elder  branch  from  the  younger,  called  simply  "de 
Tascher." 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  133 

The  "  golden  wedding  "  was  closely  followed  by  the 
marriage  of  my  elder  pupil,  Eugenie  de  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie,  with  H.  S.  H.  Prince  Maximilian 
von  Thurn  und  Taxis,  thus  adding  other  royal 
alliances  to  those  which  already  distinguished  the 
family  of  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie.  One  of  the 
Princes  von  Thurn  und  Taxis  married  an  arch- 
duchess of  Austria;  another,  a  princess  of  Bavaria, 
sister  to  the  Empress  Elizabeth.  The  marriage 
with  Prince  Maximilian,  who,  withal,  was  remark- 
ably handsome  and  of  most  princely  exterior,  could 
only  be  very  agreeable  to  the  whole  family,  and 
brought  much  happiness  to  the  young  bride. 

Alas!  this  joyful  event  was  followed  by  a  great 
affliction — the  death  of  her  dear  grandfather,  a  few 
months  later,  for  whom  I  mourned  as  if  I  had 
indeed  been  one  of  his  children. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  visited  him  constantly 
during  his  illness,  the  Empress  herself  undertaking 
various  small  cares  of  the  sick-room,  as  a  daughter 
might  have  done.  The  Emperor  was  deeply  moved 
when  he  saw  that  the  end  was  at  hand;  the  tears, 
which  ho  could  not  repress,  were  running  down 
his  face,  as  he  stood  by  the  bed  of  his  old  and 
faithful  friend.  I  was  much  struck  by  the  gentle- 
ness of  his  manner  and  the  softness  of  his  voice, 
in  great  contrast  with  the  somewhat  harsh  tones  of 
the  Empress.  Nupoleon  III.  retained  his  hat,  ac- 
cording to  royal  privilege,  but  it  seemed  strange 
under   sudi    circumsl ances ;   the   Empress  Eugenie 

0* 


134  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

wore  nothing  on  her  hair,  and  was  in  home 
toilette  of  mourning  for  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of 
Alva. 

The  death  of  the  Comte  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie 
was  that  of  a  sincere  and  fervent  Christian,  leav- 
ing memories  of  peace  and  religious  hope  to  all 
who  were  present.  The  Duke,  his  son,  replaced  him 
in  his  court  duties,  but  his  title  of  "  Grand  Master " 
remained  in  abeyance. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  came  together  to  visit 
his  widow,  and  here  a  painful  scene  took  place. 
The  Count  was  laid  out  in  state,  and  according  to 
German  custom,  all  visitors  were  at  once  shown 
into  his  room.  This  was  quite  unexpected  by  the 
Empress,  who  was  so  startled  and  shocked  that 
she  fell  into  violent  hysterics.  She  was  carried 
immediately  into  a  room  belonging  to  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  family,  who  hastened  to  offer  their 
assistance,  while  the  Emperor  stood  by  helpless, 
like  most  men  on  such  occasions,  repeating:  "My 
poor  Eugenie ! "  in  tones  of  consternation.  But  the 
annoyance  caused  by  the  consequences  of  such  an 
unfortunate  mistake  left  a  painful  impression  on 
the  mind  of  the  Empress,  and  in  some  measure 
chilled  her  kind  sympathy. 

The  death  of  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Alva,* 
had  thrown  her  into  a  very  nervous  and  excitable 
state.  At  the  same  time  she  had  serious  domestic 
sorrows,  into   the   cause   of  which   the   world  was 

*  Called  by  the  French  :  "Duchesse  d'Albe." 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  135 

only  too  completely  initiated,  but  which  she  could 
not  discuss  with  her  ladies,  while  her  sister  was  a 
natural  confidante  in  the  terrible  moral  isolation  of 
her  high  position.  The  Duchess  of  Alva,  more 
calm,  perhaps  more  reasonable  than  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  had  a  soothing  influence  over  her  violent 
feelings  and  impulsive  resolutions,  to  which  she 
yielded  without  resistance  after  the  death  of  her 
sister.  Every  one  knew  that  her  violent  grief, 
her  incessant  weeping,  had  other  causes  besides  her 
recent  loss,  although  officially  it  was  supposed  to 
be  the  only  one.  The  Emperor  was  gentle  and 
kind  as  ever  in  his  intercourse  with  her,  but  never 
seemed  to  understand  the  real  motive  of  her  per- 
sistent affliction,  to  which  he  attached  no  impor- 
tance. He  loved  the  wife  whom  he  had  chosen,  in 
spite  of  all  the  opposition  shown  by  his  best 
friends ;  but  he  was  too  attentive  to  others,  and  very 
unscrupulously  indulged  his  many  fancies,  as  all 
knew ;  and  to  this  his  wife  could  never  be  resigned. 
She  had  not  to  endure  the  public  insults  which 
his  predecessors  inflicted  on  their  consorts;  but 
what  took  place  in  private  was  not  the  less  known 
by  the  world,  for  monarchs  live  in  a  glass  case, 
observed  by  all. 

At  this  time  the  Empress  began  to  take  an 
interest  in  political  matters,  and  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  humor  her  in  this  new  fancy,  as  a 
means  of  diverting  her  mind  from  other  problems 
to   bo   solved   of  a  more   inconvenient  kind.     She 


13G  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

had  held  the  nominal  office  of  Regent  during  the 
Italian  war  of  1859:  as  she  might  be  called  upon 
to  do  so  again,  she  was  now  allowed  to  be  present 
at  the  councils,  and  she  began  to  interfere  in  mat- 
ters concerning  the  affairs  of  State.  This,  again, 
was  most  unwelcome  to  the  nation,  always  averse 
to  female  influence,  and  by  no  means  willing  to  be 
governed  by  "Mademoiselle  de  Montijo."  The  na- 
ture of  the  Empress  was  particularly  unfitted  for 
political  interference;  she  was  essentially  impul- 
sive, vehement  in  the  expression  of  her  prefer- 
ences or  views,  and  easily  worked  upon  by  those 
who  contrived  to  win  her  confidence.  She  was  too 
sincere  and  straightforward  herself  to  understand 
diplomatic  intrigues,  or  to  suspect  secret  motives; 
and  thus  she  was  unknowingly  induced  to  favor 
the  various  private  interests  of  those  by  whom 
France  and  Napoleon  III.  were  drawn  into  the  Mexi- 
can war,  with  its  miserable  results  —  the  beginning 
of  the  Emperor's  downward  career.  Unhappily,  the 
Empress  Eugenie  continued  to  interfere  in  political 
questions,  and  ended  by  taking  a  passionate  interest 
in  public  affairs.  She  was  surrounded  by  flatterers, 
who  made  her  their  tool  for  the  advantage  of  their 
own  views,  while  she  mistook  her  own  high  spirit 
and  her  visions  of  romantic  heroism  for  the  genius 
of  a  Maria  Theresa  or  a  Catherine.  At  first  the 
Emperor  resisted,  and  while  assisted  by  his  first 
supporters,  Morny,  Walewski,  even  Persigny, — who, 
though  erratic,  was  at  least  energetic  and  devoted, — 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  137 

he  had  his  own  way  in  what  was  essential;  but,  as 
these  counselors  died  off,  or  retired  from  public  af- 
fairs, and  his  own  health  became  seriously  affected, 
he  yielded  more  and  more  to  an  ever-increasing 
yearning  for  domestic  peace. 

After  the  period  of  mourning  which  followed  the 
death  of  the  General  Comte  de  Tascher,  the  family 
resumed  with  some  modifications  the  life  previ- 
ously described.  The  (Princess)  Countess,  however, 
now  left  social  duties  more  exclusively  to  her 
daughter-in-law,  the  Duchess,  and  only  went  out 
to  the  theaters  and  operas,  still  her  favorite  diver- 
sion, where  I  usually  accompanied  her.  On  other 
evenings  visitors  came;  about  nine  o'clock  a  tea- 
table  was  brought  in,  where  I  presided,  assisted  by 
Mademoiselle  de  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  and  often  by 
Mesdeinoiselles  de  Bassano,  who  handed  the  cups, 
with  the  sugar-basin  and  cream-jug  —  a  graceful 
French  custom  only  modified  for  large  parties, 
where  servants  perform  the  offices  usually  left  to 
the  daughters  of  the  house  and  their  young 
friends.  These  quiet  evenings  were  made  particu- 
larly agreeable  by  the  animated  conversation  of 
the  distinguished  visitors  —  the  causerie  in  which 
the  French  excel,  and  which  hero  had  full  play. 
Once  a  week  the  Duchess  held  a  large  "recep- 
tion," where  all  the  fashionable  society  of  the 
Empire  came,  and  where  first-rate  amateurs  and 
budding  artistic  celebrities  played  and  sang,  with- 
out   the    formality    of    a    regular    concert.     These 


138  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

evenings  were  much  enjoyed,  for  liberty  reigned 
supreme:  as  several  rooms  were  thrown  open,  the 
guests  could  walk  about  and  converse  freely,  no 
one  being  obliged  to  listen  to  the  music  who  did 
not  care  for  it. 

The  arrival  of  ambassadors-extraordinary  from 
Oriental  lands  brought  some  diversion  to  the  mo- 
notony of  the  imperial  court,  which  the  Empress 
welcomed  with  delight.  In  those  days  a  Sultan, 
or  a  Shah,  did  not  show  his  sacred  person  in 
"giaour"  regions,  and  but  little  was  known  of 
their  distant  countries,  which  seemed  to  belong  to 
the  world  of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 

When  the  arrival  of  an  ambassador  from  Persia 
was  officially  announced,  the  Empress  Eugenie  had 
but  one  thought,  that  of  dazzling  his  Oriental  mind 
by  a  wonderful  display  of  European  magnificence. 
Usually  a  Queen-Consort  never  appeared  officially 
on  such  occasions;  but  the  Empress  decided  that 
she  would  be  present  in  state,  with  all  her  ladies 
around  her  in  full  court  dress,  which  she  would 
wear  herself,  with  a  profusion  of  jewels.  Every- 
thing was  settled  according  to  her  wishes ;  she  was 
present  at  the  reception  of  the  Ambassador,  seated 
in  imperial  state,  and  looked  very  beautiful,  while 
all  wondered  how  she  would  impress  the  Ambassador. 
When  he  retired,  one  of  the  French  gentlemen  who 
had  escorted  him  into  the  imperial  presence  asked 
what  he  thought  of  the  Empress. 

"  The  Empress ! "  he  exclaimed,  with  contemptu- 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  139 

ous  astonishment.  "I  did  not  look  at  her.  It  is 
beneath  my  dignity  to  look  at  a  woman.  I  only 
saw  the  Emperor." 

This  result  of  so  much  trouble  taken  was  rather 
disconcerting  for  those  concerned;  but  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  suppressed  laughter  among  the  officials 
who  had  witnessed  the  ceremony. 

The  Embassy  from  Siam  followed,  described  to 
us  by  the  Bavarian  minister  as  "  a  set  of  fellows  in 
long  silk  dressing-gowns,  looking  as  if  they  had 
been  molded  in  greenish  chocolate,"  and  who  were 
to  bring  to  the  Emperor  the  presents  sent  by  the 
King  of  Siam,  which  they  were  to  offer  on  their 
hands  and  knees.  The  Emperor,  who  had  decided 
to  receive  them  in  the  gallery  of  Henry  II.  at  the 
palace  of  Fontainebleau,  earnestly  wished  to  dis- 
pense with  this  part  of  the  ceremony;  but  he  was 
told  that  he  would  only  lose  all  majesty  in  their 
appreciation,  and  all  claim  to  their  respect. 

The  Empress  was  also  present  in  fnll  imperial 
state  with  her  ladies  around  her;  the  latter  had 
been  particularly  requested  not  to  yield  to  any 
temptation  to  laugh  daring  the  performance; 
but  the  sight  of  human  beings  crawling  on  the 
floor  like  animals  was  so  painful  that  no  one  felt 
any  Inclination  even  to  smile.  The  unfortunate 
ambassador  carried  a  large  gold  cup  or  basin  con- 
taining the  presents  above  his  head,  and  was  con- 
luently  obliged  to  use  his  elbows  to  work  his 
way  forward  on   Iii*  knees.    When  he  reached  the 


140  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

throne,  panting  and  gasping,  the  Emperor  could 
bear  the  sight  no  longer,  but  stepped  clown  to 
save  him  the  ascent,  taking  the  presents  from  him, 
and  raising  him  to  his  feet. 

I  remember  seeing  the  Siamese,  who  were  the 
great  "lions"  of  the  day,  at  the  opera,  and  think- 
ing the  description  of  the  Bavarian  minister  very- 
graphic  and  accurate.  The  opera  represented  was 
Felicien  David's  "  Herculaneum,"  and  the  alarm  of 
the  Siamese  at  the  final  conflagration  was  very 
amusing  to  witness.  They  were,  not  unnaturally, 
convinced  that  the  theater  was  on  fire,  and  insisted 
on  leaving  the  building,  pointing  to  the  stage  with 
the  greatest  terror,  rushing  to  the  door  of  the  box, 
and  being  most  reluctantly  brought  back  by  the 
French  gentlemen  who  escorted  them.  They  were 
evidently  much  relieved  when  the  curtain  fell,  and 
they  were  allowed  to  retire. 

On  official  occasions,  such  as  the  preceding,  and 
others,  an  important  part  in  the  preparations  fell 
to  the  share  of  a  functionary  who,  though  unno- 
ticed, was  not  unknown  —  the  hair-dresser  of  the 
Empress,  named  Leroy.  Of  course  all  fashion- 
able ladies  wished  to  have  their  hair  dressed  by 
Leroy;  but  on  great  occasions  only  those  of  very 
high  rank,  or  very  prominent  positions,  could  as- 
pire to  the  care  of  the  great  man  himself;  all 
others  had  to  be  satisfied  with  the  skill  of  his 
assistants.  He  was  quite  a  character:  a  stout, 
middle-aged  man,  who  came  in  his  carriage  at  the 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  141 

hour  he  pleased  (which  had  to  be  awaited  during 
the  whole  day),  and  who,  when  he  chose  to  come, 
rushed  in  like  a  conqueror,  waving  his  comb, 
dressed  in  a  brown  linen  oversuit,  ordering  the 
servants  about,  and  desiring  the  presence  of  their 
mistress  immediately  —  he  could  not  be  kept  waiting. 
Duchesses  and  princesses,  who  had  spent  the  day 
in  white  wrappers  to  be  ready  for  his  offices,  then 
flew  to  their  dressing-rooms  with  all  due  submis- 
sion and  alacrity.  In  two  minutes  their  hair  was 
disheveled  on  their  shoulders,  and  with  marvelous 
rapidity  gathered  up  and  arranged  according  to 
his  taste  and  fancy,  while  he  talked  incessantly, 
principally  of  the  Empress,  lauding  her  to  the 
skies,  then  reverting  to  Marie  Antoinette  and  her 
hair-dresser;  if  he  had  filled  that  post,  she  would 
never  have  been  guillotined.  Oh,  no!  he  would 
have  found  means  to  prevent  that.  He  would  guar- 
antee that  nothing  would  happen  to  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  etc.,  etc.  Meanwhile  the  hair  in  his  hands 
assumed  beautiful  shapes,  and,  as  he  put  in  the 
jewels,  he  would  say  proudly:  "No  fear  of  their 
coming  out!  No  lady  ever  lost  a  diamond  that  I 
had  fastened." 

And  truly  they  were  wonderfully  secure.  The 
result  of  his  rapid  manipulations  was  always  per- 
IV'<-t,  hut  it  was  dearly  paid  for  by  hours  of  wait- 
ing. I  have  seen  the  Duchesso  de  Tascher,  with 
her  hair  dressed  for  a  ball  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  sitting  motionless  during  the  whole  day, 


142  LIFE  IN  THE  TUTLERIES 

so  that  nothing  should  be  disturbed  in  her  head- 
dress. 

When  the  King  of  Prussia 1  visited  Napoleon  III. 
at  Compiegne,  the  Empress,  of  course,  considered 
the  presence  of  Leroy  indispensable,  and  he  was 
summoned  to  Compiegne  for  the  whole  of  the 
King's  visit.  But  it  so  happened  that  some  im- 
portant wedding  festivities  at  Berlin  had  caused 
lucrative  offers  to  be  addressed  to  Leroy,  who 
explained  the  case  to  the  Empress,  imploring  her 
to  dispense  with  his  services.  Too  kind  to  refuse, 
yet  considerably  vexed  and  engrossed  by  that  one 
thought,  the  Empress  went  to  the  Emperor's  pri- 
vate room,  where  he  was  deeply  engaged  in  politi- 
cal cogitations  caused  by  the  visit  of  the  King,  and 
the  matters  to  be  discussed. 

"  Can  you  imagine  anything  more  tiresome  ? " 
she  said  to  the  Emperor.  "Here  is  Leroy,  who 
has  been  apologizing  and  entreating  my  forgive- 
ness, because  he  has  been  summoned  to  Berlin, 
and  must  go  immediately." 

The  Emperor,  to  whom  the  sound  "Leroy"  could 
only  mean  "Le  Roi"  (the  King),  and  who  thought 
only  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  exclaimed  in  great 
alarm : 

"  Le  Roi  !  summoned  to  Berlin  !  But  this  is  most 
serious  !  How  is  it  that  I  have  not  been  informed  ? 
You  say  he  is  going  immediately  ?  What  can  have 
happened  i " 

1  Afterward  Emperor  of  Germany. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  143 

The  Empress,  surprised  at  the  extreme  interest 
shown  by  the  Emperor  in  the  proceedings  of  "  Le- 
roy,"  continued  her  lamentations;  till  at  last,  after 
considerable  anxiety,  Napoleon  III.  discovered  that 
the  important  departure  was  that  of  her  hairdresser. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  little  Prince  Imperial  —  The  Emperor's  excessive  indulgence 
—  Vain  efforts  of  the  Empress  "  to  bring  up  that  child  prop- 
erly "  — The  Empress  and  the  pony  —  The  Emperor  and  the 
orange  —  Amiable  disposition  of  the  Prince  —  His  efforts  to 
"  earn  money  for  the  poor"  —  General  Frossard's  military  dis- 
cipline— Anecdotes  —  The  "  honor  of  the  uniform"  —  The 
Prince  takes  the  measles  —  Seriously  ill  —  Nursed  by  the  Em- 
press with  the  greatest  maternal  devotion. 


THE  little  Prince  was  now  growing  ont  of  baby- 
hood, and  was  really  a  most  amiable  and  in- 
teresting child,  although  surrounded  by  adulation 
and  obsequiousness  to  a  degree  which  would  have 
ruined  most  children.  Happily  his  English  nurse, 
Miss  Shaw,  whom  he  dearly  loved,  treated  him  with 
English  good  sense,  and  had  an  excellent  influence 
over  him.  Others  were  also  to  be  found  who  did 
not  consider  that  they  were  bound  to  worship  the 
Emperor's  heir. 

On  one  occasion  he  childishly  failed  in  due  de- 
corum toward  the  Due  de  Tascher,  who  took  him 
sharply  to  task,  pointing  out  in  very  plain  terms 
the  superiority  of  a  man  of  his  age  and  position 
over  a  "gamin"  like  himself.  The  child  was  im- 
meDsely  astonished,  but  fully  understood  the  les- 

144 


THE    I'RINCI-    IMPERIAL 


FHOM  A  PHOTOGRAPH   DV  LADREY-DISDEHI. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  145 

son.  The  little  Prince  was  spoiled  to  excess  by 
his  father;  his  mother  naturally  wished  to  coun- 
terbalance the  latter's  over-indulgence,  but  she  was 
not  always  judicious  in  her  energetic  interference. 
One  instance  may  be  quoted  among  many.  The 
very  first  time  that  the  little  Prince  was  seated  on 
a  pony  as  a  mere  baby  of  three  years  old,  the 
equerry,  M.  Bachon,  was  carefully  holding  him,  and 
leading  the  pony  step  by  step,  when  suddenly  the 
Empress  came  up,  indignantly  declaring  that  she 
would  not  have  such  absurd  petting,  concluding 
with  a  cut  of  her  whip  to  the  pony,  who  started 
off.  Bachon,  terrified,  uttered  an  energetic  exple- 
tive, succeeded  in  stopping  the  pony,  and  brought 
back  the  child  unhurt;  but  he  was  too  angry  to 
remember  official  decorum,  and  expressed  his  feel- 
ings with  an  amount  of  vigor  very  unusual  in 
courts,  while  the  English  nurse  indulged  in  more 
respectful  lamentations:  "Oh!  your  Majesty!  You 
should  n't,  your  Majesty!  You  've  only  one,  you 
know ! " 

It  is  evident  that  the  Empress  in  no  way  in- 
tended to  risk  the  life  of  her  child;  but  she  was 
herself  fearless  to  excess  and  often  thoughtless  in 
the  presence  of  danger.  She  was  determined  that 
her  son  should  not  be  a  milk-sop,  and  she  did  not 
stop  to  examine  the  "fitness  of  things." 

The  Emperor,  on  the  other  hand,  shrank  from 
giving  him  pain  to  an  almost  absurd  degree.  The 
child   was   once    playing   with    a   small   mandarin 

10 


146  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILEKIES 

orange,  which  he  tried  to  get  into  his  mouth. 
The  Emperor,  alarmed,  cried :  "  Take  it  from  him ! 
He  will  choke  himself ! "  The  Due  de  Tascher  took 
the  orange  forcibly  from  the  child,  not  without  re- 
sistance on  his  part,  and  laughingly  rallied  the 
Emperor  on  his  not  having  done  so  himself.  "I 
could  not."  the  Emperor  exclaimed ;  "  he  would 
not  love  me." 

"When  the  time  came  for  putting  him  under  the 
care  of  a  tutor,  one  of  the  ladies  de  Tascher  said 
to  the  child:  "Ah,  Monseigneur!  now  you  will 
have  to  be  obedient  and  to  work  hard  at  your 
lessons." 

He  gravely  answered :  "  That  is  not  so  sure. 
Mama  always  says  no;  but  then  papa  always  says 
yes,  and  I  have  my  own  will  besides;  that  makes 
three." 

Like  most  children,  the  little  Prince  had  a  great 
yearning  for  "grown-up  pleasures,"  and  hearing  at 
Compiegne  conversations  on  a  new  play  which  was 
to  be  acted  there  by  the  Cornedie-Francaise,  he  im- 
mediately expressed  an  eager  wish  to  be  present. 
Comtesse  Stephanie  de  Tascher  said  at  once :  "  No, 
no,  Monseigneur;  little  boys  go  to  bed,  and  do  not 
go  to  plays." 

He  looked  at  her  gravely,  and  in  a  very  decided 
tone  replied: 

"  We  shall  see.    I  will  speak  to  papa  about  it." 

And,  of  course,  "papa"  yielded,  to  the  great  an- 
noyance of  his  mother,  who  disapproved. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIEE  147 

The  tutor  had  no  easy  task  before  him,  and  the 
Empress  exclaimed  in  despair: 

"It  is  impossible  to  bring  np  that  child  prop- 
erly ! " 

Happily  his  disposition  was  excellent  and  easily 
worked  upon;  in  more  serious  matters  it  was  suf- 
ficient to  tell  him  that  the  "honor  of  his  uniform" 
was  concerned,  to  obtain  immediate  submission. 

The  Emperor  promised  that  his  "  good  marks " 
from  his  tutor  should  be  paid  him  in  money  for 
the  poor,  which  was  to  be  kept  in  a  special  box. 
When  the  "  good  marks "  failed,  he  was  reminded 
that  the  poor  would  suffer  through  his  fault,  and 
this  was  deeply  felt  by  the  child.  When  his  box 
filled,  his  delight  was  pretty  to  witness ;  he  had 
earned  the  money,  and  the  poor  people  would  have 
it.  "  Look  at  my  box !  See  how  much  money  I 
have  got!"  running  in  great  glee  to  show  it  to 
the  Comtesse  Stephanie  de  Tascher. 

The  little  Prince  was  brought  forward  more 
than  was  desirable,  owing  to  his  father's  excessive 
indulgence.  When  he  was  eight  years  old  he  was 
admitted  to  the  imperial  dinner-table.  All  those 
accustomed  to  children  will  understand  how  objec- 
tionable such  an  arrangement  must  have  been  for 
his  health  as  well  as  for  his  proper  education.  At 
Compiegne  he  was  allowed  far  too  much  participa- 
tion in  the  pleasures  provided  for  the  guests;  and 
when  only  nine  years  old  he  took  a  prominent  part 
in  an  entertainment  where  the  Princess  Metternich 


148  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

and  others  performed.  The  little  Prince  sang  songs 
composed  for  the  occasion,  "with  appropriate  words, 
and  filled  his  part  in  a  very  satisfactory  and  pleas- 
ing manner;  bnt  the  whole  was  terribly  misplaced 
for  his  health  and  his  best  interests,  and  all  sensible 
people  felt,  like  the  Comtesse  Stephanie  de  Tascher, 
"  that  little  boys  onght  to  go  to  bed." 

I  remember  seeing  him  at  an  official  costume  ball 
in  the  "Salle  des  Mareehaux,"  and  the  disappro- 
bation of  the  (Princess)  Countess,  who  was  posi- 
tively unhappy,  and  repeated :  "  How  injudicious ! 
Such  a  scene  of  excitement  for  such  a  young 
brain ! " 

On  a  similar  occasion  the  little  Prince  caught  the 
measles  from  a  young  lady  who  actually  sacrificed 
her  life  to  be  present  at  this  ball  by  her  imprudence 
in  concealing  from  her  mother  the  symptoms  of  the 
distemper.  The  Prince  Imperial  was  seriously  ill, 
and  was  nursed  night  and  day  by  the  Empress  her- 
self, with  very  natural  anxiety  and  the  greatest  ma- 
ternal devotion.  In  all  probability,  had  she  been 
able  to  have  her  own  way,  her  child  would  have 
been  subjected  to  far  stricter  discipline,  and  cer- 
tainly more  judicious  management.  But  the  Em- 
peror could  not  be  induced  to  resist  the  child's 
wishes  in  anything  he  fancied.  In  the  ordinary 
evenings  at  the  Tuileries  the  little  Prince  and  his 
playfellows  romped  and  rushed  about  without  re- 
straint, leaping  over  the  ottomans,  and  pursuing 
each  other  with  deafening  noise.    The  Emperor  par- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  149 

tieularly  liked  quiet;  but  he  never  allowed  his  son 
to  be  restrained,  or  went  beyond  a  remark,  in  a  tone 
of  gentle  resignation,  as  to  "what  a  noise"  they 
were  making.  Of  course  no  one  else  could  object. 
Often,  when  the  Emperor  was  conversing  seriously, 
the  little  Prince  would  put  in  his  word  and  give  his 
opinion.  The  Empress  judiciously  reprimanded  him; 
but  the  Emperor  stopped  her  immediately:  "No,  no; 
I  like  to  hear  him  say  what  he  thinks.  So  that  is 
your  opinion,  Loulou?" 

Fortunately  for  the  little  Prince,  the  policy  which 
required  that  his  education  should  have  a  military 
stamp,  caused  him  to  be  put  under  the  supreme 
command  of  General  Frossard,  who  was  appointed 
"  Governor  to  the  Prince  Imperial,"  and  who  treated 
him  according  to  military  discipline  without  allow- 
ing any  one  to  interfere. 

The  Emperor  was  wise  enough  to  feel  the  neces- 
sity for  this  firmness,  and  was  not  sorry  to  hand 
over  to  another  the  control  which  might  make  his 
son  "love  him"  less.  His  over-tender  feelings  were, 
however,  often  tried  severely.  The  young  Prince 
was  heard  to  say  on  some  festive  occasion:  "I 
should  so  like  to  stay!  He  won't  let  me."  The 
Emperor,  with  his  usual  indulgence,  answered: 
"Give  me  your  cap;  I  will  put  it  in  my  pocket — 
you  can't  go  without  it,  and  that  will  cause  some 
delay."  The  little  Prince  then  said  ruefully :  "  It  is 
of  no  use.  I  have  tried  that  before!  He  has  got 
another  one  ready ! "   And  the  terrible  "  he,"  General 


150  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

Frossard,   marched  off  his  imperial  charge  under 
the  care  of  his  tutor. 

The  General  maintained  his  authority  against 
the  Emperor  himself  unflinchingly.  When  the 
latter  sent  for  the  little  Prince,  during  his  studies, 
to  show  him  to  some  political  personage,  General 
Frossard  did  not  hesitate  to  "respectfully  inform 
His  Majesty  that  the  Prince's  studies  would  not  be 
interrupted  before  another  half  hour."  The  Em- 
peror would  then  smile  and  acquiesce. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  military  element  in  Parisian  society  —  Pelissier  and  Can- 
robert  —  Anecdotes  of  the  former  —  How  he  treated  a  coward  — 
A  defective  omelet  and  its  consequences  —  His  uncivilized 
manners  —  His  marriage  —  The  Duchesse  de  Malakoff  —  Can- 
robert  —  His  marriage  —  Madame  Canrobert  —  Pretensions  of 
the  marshal  checked  by  the  Emperor  —  An  apparently  ill- 
assorted  but  happy  pair  —  Honorable  character  of  Canrobert  — 
MacMahon  —  Castellane  —  Magnan  —  Bosquet  —  Characteristic 
anecdote  of  the  Emperor  —  Vaillant  —  Randon  —  Three  inap- 
propriate Christian  names  —  Bazaine. 


THE  military  element  has  always  a  great  influence 
in  Parisian  society.  Among  the  "  heroes  "  who 
attracted  the  most  attention  at  the  court,  the  most 
prominent  were  Pelissier  and  Canrobert,  both  mar- 
shals of  France,  both  having  had  supreme  command 
in  the  Crimea,  and  each  one  having  his  own  zealous 
partizans.  Those  of  Pelissier  extolled  his  energy 
and  military  spirit,  criticizing  the  slowness  and  in- 
decision of  Canrobert,  while  the  admirers  of  the 
latter  dwelt  on  the  inhumanity  of  Pelissier,  and 
his  reckless  sacrifice  of  human  life  to  reach  his 
ends,  attributing  the  indecision  of  Canrobert  to  his 
repugnance  to  unnecessary  bloodshed,  as  his  per- 
sonal bravery  could  not  be  questioned. 
There  were  ugly  stories  of  the  proceedings  of 

151 


152  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

Pelissier;  for  instance,  when  be  was  in  Algeria,  it 
was  charged  that  he  suffocated  with  smoke  the 
Arabs  who  had  taken  refuge  in  caves,  where  they  all 
perished.1  This  barbarous  mode  of  warfare  caused 
an  outburst  of  indignation  in  France  at  the  time. 

All  acknowledged  that  Canrobert  had  behaved  very 
nobly,  and  in  a  true  soldierly  spirit,  when  he  was 
called  upon  to  resign  his  command  in  the  Crimea 
into  the  hands  of  Pelissier,  without,  on  that  occa- 
sion, showing  a  thought  of  selfishness,  or  the  least 
hesitation  in  his  military  obedience.  Although  the 
pitiless  brutality  of  Pelissier  could  not  be  denied, 
it  was  allowed  that  his  determined  energy  brought 
him  success  in  what  he  undertook,  and  gave  him 
great  influence  over  his  men. 

In  an  engagement  with  the  Arabs  in  Algeria, 
an  unfortunate  officer  holding  the  rank  of  captain 
was  seized  by  panic,  turned  his  horse,  and  fled  to 
the  village  where  the  troops  were  stationed. 

Of  course  a  court-martial  was  appointed  to  judge 
the  case,  which  met  with  severe  punishment;  but, 
in  the  interval,  Pelissier,  who  was  then  colonel, 
met  the  culprit  (who  had  pleaded  sudden  illness) 
in  the  street,  and  stood  before  him,  sternly  eying 
him  from  head  to  foot  in  silence. 

At  last  the  unfortunate  man  asked :  "Do  you 
want  anything  from  me,  colonel?" 

In  withering  tones,  with  a  marked  emphasis  on 
every  word,  Pelissier  answered: 

i  In  1845  at  Ouled-Rh6a. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  153 

"  Yes !  I  want  to  see  the  face  of  a  coward.    For  I 

have  never  yet  met  with  one  in  the  French  army." 

Violent  as  he  was,  he  yet  possessed  the  faculty 
of  recognizing  his  fault,  when  he  had  gone  too  far. 
On  one  occasion,  in  some  large  town,  he  went  to 
a  restaurant  for  his  luncheon.  Pelissier  liked 
good  fare,  when  he  could  get  it,  and  ordered  an 
omelet  with  truffles.  The  waiter,  against  all  rule, 
brought  the  omelet  and  the  condiment  on  separate 
dishes. 

Pelissier  flew  into  a  towering  rage,  abused  the 
waiter,  and  finally  threw  the  contents  of  the  two 
dishes  in  his  face.  The  waiter  happened  to  have 
been  a  soldier,  and  had  served  in  the  Zouaves.  He 
flew  at  Pelissier,  who  then  had  a  narrow  escape 
of  his  life,  and  returned  home  in  woful  condition. 
When  he  had  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  chas- 
tisement, he  returned  to  the  same  restaurant,  and 
ordered  the  same  dish  of  the  same  waiter.  The  man 
brought  it  this  time  in  proper  condition.  Pelissier 
then  said  to  him: 

"Well,  I  see  that  you  are  a  brave  fellow,  who 
won't  be  bullied;  take  this,"  and  he  handed  him 
twenty  francs,  which  must  have  surprised  him  con- 
siderably. 

When  the  marriage  of  this  coarse,  rough  soldier 
of  fortune 1  was  officially  announced,  every  one  was 

1  Pelissier  wag  born  in  1794,  of  a  family  belonging  to  the  peasant 
class,  but  in  comparatively  comfortable  circumstances.  He  was  edu- 
cated first  at  the  military  preparatory  school  of  La  Fleche,  and  then 
went  to  St.  Cyr. 


154  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

astonished,  for  the  bride  was  a  young  and  beautiful 
Spaniard,  Mademoiselle  Sofia  Valera  della  Paiiega, 
a  distant  relative  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  under 
whose  patronage  this  ill-assorted  union  had  been 
arranged. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  was  fond  of  match-mak- 
ing; but  she  was  not  usually  fortunate  in  the 
results  of  those  which  she  suggested,  for  her  im- 
petuous nature  did  not  allow  her  to  examine  both 
sides  of  a  question,  or  to  weigh  objections.  In 
this  case  Mademoiselle  della  Paiiega  was  a  poor 
relative,  who  lived  with  the  Comtesse  de  Monti  jo 
as  a  protegee.  By  marrying  Pelissier,  she  would  be 
a  "marechale"  and  Duchesse  de  Malakoff;  what 
could  be  better?  As  to  the  life  which  she  would 
lead  when  married  to  a  man  so  much  older  than 
herself,  whose  ways  and  manners  were  those  of 
a  common  soldier,  with  a  violent  temper  besides, 
no  one  stopped  to  consider.  And  so  poor  Made- 
moiselle della  Paiiega,  gentle,  submissive,  and  fear- 
ing to  offend,  became  the  wife  of  Pelissier,  who 
was  old  enough  to  have  been  her  father  instead 
of  her  husband.  She  complained  to  no  one,  and 
always  behaved  with  great  propriety  and  dignity; 
but  her  face  was  sufficiently  eloquent.  A  few  years 
after  her  marriage  she  became  a  widow.1 

The  characteristic  behavior  of  Pelissier,  notably 
on  the  very  day  of  his  wedding,   as  he  left  the 

1  In  1864.  Pelissier  was  then  Governor-General  of  Algeria.  He  had 
married  Mademoiselle  della  Paiiega  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND   EMPIEE  155 

church,  cannot  be  dwelt  upon  in  these  pages,  nor 
other  traits  depicting  his  oddities  in  general  society. 

One  instance,  however,  I  may  mention,  which, 
though  trifling,  may  give  some  idea  of  his  un- 
civilized ways  and  manners.    The  Comtesse  B 

related  in  my  presence  that  while  on  a  visit  to 
her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Manchester,  where  Pe- 
lissier,  who  was  then  ambassador  in  England,  was 
among  the  guests,  she  met  him  one  morning  as 
she  was  going  down-stairs. 

"  Stop,  Comtesse,"  said  Pelissier,  "  you  have  a 
black  mark  on  your  forehead." 

Then,  wetting  his  finger  in  his  mouth,  he  oblig- 
ingly rubbed  the  place  and  removed  the  stain. 

Canrobert *  was,  at  that  time,  a  short  square-built 
man,  with  a  large  head  out  of  proportion  to  his  fig- 
ure, and  proverbially  ill-favored  and  ungainly ;  but, 
though  rather  predisposed  to  gasconading  and  flour- 
ish, he  was  of  a  totally  different  stamp  and  educa- 
tion from  Pelissier.  He  married  a  very  pretty  and 
distinguished  Scotch  lady — a  Miss  Macdonald  (of 
the  great  Scotch  clan  so  named),  whom  he  abso- 
lutely worshiped,  and  who  was  devoted  to  him, 
ill-assorted  as  they  seemed  to  be.  They  were 
known  in  society  as  "  Caliban  and  Ariel " ;  but 
they  were  a  most  united  couple  and  very  happy 
together.  The  poor  old  Marshal  was  perfectly 
heart-broken  when  his  wife  was  taken  from  him 

1  Certain  Canrobert,  or  de  Canrobert,  was  born  in  1809,  and  was 
the  son  of  an  officer  of  good  family  in  the  emigre  army.  He  died  in 
Paris,  February,  1895. 


156  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEKIES 

in  the  year  1890.  As  she  was  lowered  into  her 
grave,  the  veteran  wept  like  a  child,  exclaiming  in 
a  voice  broken  by  sobs :  "  'T  is  I,  't  is  I  who  should 
lie  there ! " 

He  reached  a  great  age,  universally  respected  as  a 
most  honorable  and  excellent  man,  apart  from  his 
remarkable  military  talents  and  heroic  personal 
valor. 

Madame  Canrobert  was  as  intelligent  as  she  was 
elegant  and  refined ;  she  had  a  perfect  appreciation 
of  the  duties  which  her  high  position  involved,  and, 
during  the  disastrous  war,  as  during  the  Empire,  she 
performed  them  admirably.  When  she  was  first 
married,  the  marshal  held  the  important  command 
of  the  army  corps  at  Lyons,  and  his  exaggerated 
view  of  what  was  due  to  her  as  his  wife  caused,  at 
first,  some  ill  feeling  among  the  military  aristocracy 
and  their  wives,  and  offended  the  civil  authorities 
considerably. 

It  was  said  that  when  Canrobert  gave  his  first 
official  dinner,  the  Prefect,  as  the  highest  functionary 
present,  stepped  forward  to  offer  his  arm  to  Madame 
Canrobert,  as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  the  Marshal 
interposed,  saying  that  he  alone  could  take  in  La 
Marechale.  This  mortification  to  the  Prefect  caused 
considerable  animadversion,  but  when  Canrobert 
ordered  that  La  Marechale  should  never  go  out  in 
her  carriage  without  being  attended  by  a  military 
escort,  there  was  a  general  outcry,  as  the  Empress 
herself  did  not  have  one  habitually.  Matters  reached 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIEE  157 

such  a  seething  condition  that  the  Emperor  was 
obliged  to  interfere,  so  that  the  limits  of  Madame 
Canrobert's  privileges  might  be  clearly  defined. 

But  this  was  only  a  passing  cloud,  due  to  inexpe- 
rience. 

MacMahon  had  not  attracted  much  notice  before 
the  Italian  war,  although  his  noble  conduct  at  the 
taking  of  the  Malakoff  tower  at  Sebastopol  deserved 
more  fame.  He  was  loaded  with  honors  after  Ma- 
genta, but  he  was  not  much  seen  in  the  society  of  the 
court,  as  he  belonged  to  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain 
by  his  own  family  ties,  and  especially  those  of  his 
wife,  a  daughter  of  the  Due  de  Castries.  MacMahon 
was  in  all  things  strictly  honorable  and  faithful  to 
his  duty  toward  the  Emperor,  but  he  did  not  seek 
to  do  more,  and  made  no  demonstrations. 

The  other  marshals  were  only  remarkable  for  their 
military  achievements,  except  Castellane,  a  distin- 
guished man  in  every  respect,  noted  for  his  energy, 
his  determination,  and  his  high  military  spirit,  who 
commanded  at  Lyons  in  almost  vice-regal  fashion. 
His  daughter,  who  was  extremely  popular,  married 
the  Minister  of  Prussia,  Count  Hatzfeldt,  and,  after 
his  death,  the  Due  de  Valencay,  of  the  Talleyrand- 
Perigord  family. 

Magnan  had  helped  in  the  "  coup  d'etat,"  and  was, 
consequently,  much  favored  by  the  Emperor ;  but 
there  was  a  strong  feeling  against  him,  because  he 
was  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Freemasons  in  France, 
and  was,  consequently,  antagonistic  to  the  clergy. 


158  LIFE  IN   THE  TUILERIES 

Bosquet  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Crimea,  and  especially  at  Inkerman,  where  his  timely 
arrival  saved  the  English  allies,  who  were  nearly 
overpowered.  He  was  an  ardent  Republican,  and, 
consequently,  opposed  to  the  Empire  and  the  Em- 
peror. At  the  time  of  the  "  coup  d'etat "  he  asked  to 
be  released  from  active  service ;  his  demand  was  re- 
fused, though  his  feelings  were  shown  so  plainly  that 
he  gave  up  all  hope  of  high  promotion.  But  in 
yielding  to  such  supposition  he  did  not  appreciate 
the  justice  and  generosity  of  the  Emperor,  who 
recognized  his  merits  and  loaded  him  with  honors. 
After  the  Crimea  the  army  had  declared  that  he 
deserved  the  highest  of  all  distinctions,  the  "  baton  " 
of  a  marshal  of  France,  but  Bosquet  was  convinced 
that  his  opinions  and  his  friendships  with  the  Em- 
peror's most  marked  adversaries  would  prevent  him 
from  ever  reaching  that  supreme  honor.  To  his 
surprise,  after  the  peace,  he  was  invited  to  dine  at 
the  Tuileries.  He  went,  as  in  duty  bound ;  the  din- 
ner passed  without  any  particular  incident,  but 
when  the  dessert  had  been  placed  upon  the  table, 
the  Emperor,  addressing  his  guests,  said  : 

"  Gentlemen,  fill  your  glasses.  I  wish  to  pro- 
pose a  toast  —  the  health  of  two  of  my  friends 
here  present.  To  Marshal  Canrobert!  To  Marshal 
Bosquet ! " 

Both  remained  speechless,  overcome  with  joy  and 
gratitude,  but  when  Bosquet  took  the  hand  which 
the  Emperor  frankly  extended  to  him,  his  heart  was 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  159 

won,  and  he  became  devoted  to  the  Emperor  from 
that  hour.  Unfortunately,  he  died  at  a  comparatively 
early  age. 

Vaillant  was  a  man  of  humble  origin — betrayed 
by  his  manners.  He  boasted  of  being  the  son  of  a 
cobbler.  Such  a  rise  in  life  is  certainly  very  honor- 
able, but  it  was  unnecessary  to  prove  the  fact  so  con- 
tinually and  so  evidently.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the 
household,  which  he  governed  officially,  and  had 
apartments  in  the  palace  next  to  those  of  the  Comte 
de  Tascher.  He  was  a  very  ordinary-looking  man, 
and  enormously  stout. 

Randon  was  considered  very  estimable  in  private 
life,  but  he  played  only  a  secondary  part.  He  was 
looked  upon  as  rather  too  prudent  in  military  tactics. 
There  were  many  jests  on  the  inappropriate  Chris- 
tian names  of  the  three  marshals  Canrobert,  Randon, 
and  Pelissier. 

The  prudent  Randon's  given  name  was  "  Caesar  " ; 
Canrobert,  noted  for  his  indecision,  was  called  "  Cer- 
tain " ;  and  Pelissier,  whose  roughness  was  prover- 
bial, had  been  christened  "  Amable." 

Bazaine  was  then  in  Mexico,  and  had  not  yet 
reached  the  rank  of  marshal ;  his  reputation  on  his 
return  was  not  of  a  kind  to  entitle  him  to  such  a  rec- 
ompense !  The  failure  of  the  campaign  and  the  dis- 
astrous fate  of  Maximilian  were  openly  attributed  to 
his  incapacity,  if  not  treachery,  which  foreshadowed 
his  conduct  during  the  Franco-German  war. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

Monsieur  Thouvenel — A  French  ambassador  at  Constantinople— 
A  night  spent  in  Oriental  luxury — Its  questionable  delights — 
A  parrot's  reprimand  to  an  ambassador  —  Monsieur  Thouvenel, 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — Policy  of  Monsieur  Thouvenel — 
Opposition  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  —  The  Emperor's 
speech  on  opening  the  Legislative  Assembly — Feeling  of  the 
nation — Thouvenel  obliged  to  resign — The  child  and  the  Em- 
peror —  Generosity  of  the  latter  —  Petition  of  a  Legitimist 
lady  —  Plain  speaking  —  Chivalrous  conduct  of  the  Emperor  — 
His  noble  nature. 


MONSIEUR  THOUVENEL,  who  was  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  after  the  Italian  war,  was  an  old 
and  intimate  friend  of  the  de  Tascher  family.  I  well 
remember  his  intense  pride  and  delight  when  the 
great  question  of  the  annexation  of  Savoy  and  Nice 
was  finally  settled,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction,  which 
he  desired  beyond  any  other,  of  signing  his  name  to 
the  treaty  which  gave  both  to  France. 

"  If  I  can  only  write  Thouvenel  below  that  treaty, 
I  shall  die  happy  ! "  he  exclaimed  in  my  presence. 

When  I  first  saw  M.  Thouvenel  he  was  ambassador 
at  Constantinople,  and  being  in  Paris  on  a  diplomatic 
conge,  he  came  to  dine  at  the  Tuileries  with  the 
de  Taschers.  He  had  much  to  relate,  for  which  we 
were  in  some  degree  prepared  by  the  graphic  account 

1(10 


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tt 

UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  1G1 

of  a  mutual  friend,  who  had  described  a  visit  of  M. 
Thouvenel  to  some  Aga  or  Pasha ;  where,  after  hav- 
ing dined  principally  on  a  variety  of  luscious  sweet- 
meats, he  was  obliged  to  spend  the  night  in  a  magni- 
ficent apartment,  lighted  brilliantly  by  an  immense 
chandelier,  with  negro  slaves  lying  before  his  door  to 
guard  his  person,  and  snoring  so  loudly  that  sleep 
was  impossible ;  while  his  rest  was  still  further  dis- 
turbed by  the  discomfort  of  his  splendid  bed,  where 
white  satin  sheets  exasperated  his  nerves  and  set  his 
teeth  on  edge,  and  a  pillow  covered  with  cloth  of 
gold  scratched  his  face  and  tore  his  hair. 

My  young  charges  had  particularly  enjoyed  this 
picture  of  Oriental  luxury,  so  that  the  presence  of 
M.  Thouvenel,  with  his  animated  conversation,  and 
all  he  had  to  relate,  was  extremely  welcome.  He  was 
a  tall,  powerful  man,  with  rather  a  pompous  de- 
meanor, but  a  great  talker,  and,  as  he  unbent  with 
the  de  Taschers  more  than  usual,  he  was  really  very 
agreeable.  Every  one  was  listening  with  great 
interest  to  his  graphic  descriptions,  when,  to  his  own 
astonishment,  and  the  intense  amusement  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  family,  his  eloquence  was 
suddenly  cut  short  by  the  energetic  protestations  of 
a  favorite  parrot,  who,  being  disturbed  in  his  slum- 
bers, vociferated,  "  Tais-toi,  Eldouard ! " 

The  Christian  name  of  the  narrator  being  Eldouard, 
the  remark  was  decidedly  personal,  and  no  one  could 
help  laughing,  while  M.  Thouvenel,  utterly  amazed, 
declared  :  "Why,  he  is  actually  attacking  me  /" 


162  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILEEIES 

The  parrot  had  been  brought  from  Pernambuco  by 
a  Spanish  priest,  as  a  present  to  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
and  had  been  taught  pretty  speeches  in  her  honor. 
The  Empress,  having  no  fondness  for  parrots,  gave 
this  one  —  a  particularly  fine  specimen  —  to  the  Due 
de  Tascher.  But  the  family  being  absent  from  home, 
the  Duke  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it,  and  put  it 
to  board  with  an  old  woman  at  St.  Cloud,  who  took 
great  care  of  the  bird,  but  established  it  on  her  win- 
dow-sill, where  the  street  gamins  held  conversations 
with  her  charge,  by  no  means  to  the  improvement  of 
its  vocabulary.  When  the  family  returned  to  the 
Tuileries  the  parrot  had  learned  French,  but  swore 
in  most  disreputable  fashion,  and  held  such  language 
that  he  was  not  considered  fit  to  be  introduced  into 
society.  Gradually,  however,  new  words  blotted  out 
the  old  ones,  and  the  Duke's  daughters  then  delighted 
in  teaching  him  sentences,  which  he  picked  up  with 
the  greatest  facility.  Every  morniug,  he  began  the 
day  with  energetic  protestations  of  "  Vive  V  Em- 
pereur!"  at  the  same  time  commanding  military 
drill,  in  sonorous,  officer-like  tones,  which  were  inde- 
scribably ludicrous.  He  was  a  great  favorite  in  the 
family,  but  after  his  attack  on  M.  Thouvenel  was 
banished  from  the  drawing-room  in  the  evening. 

We  tried  on  one  occasion  to  show  off  his  talents  to 
the  Empress  Eugenie,  who  had  said  eagerly :  "  Oh, 
do  make  him  talk  !  "  But  he  was  obstinately  silent, 
"just  like  children,"  as  she  said,  laughing. 

When  Monsieur  Thouvenel  became  Minister  of 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  163 

Foreign  Affairs  after  the  Italian  war,  he  took  the 
anti-papal  side  so  warmly  that  the  family  de  Tascher 
no  longer  approved  of  him,  for  they  were  sincere 
Catholics,  and  consequently  averse  to  the  spoliation 
of  the  Pope,  which  at  that  time  the  Emperor  sin- 
cerely wished  to  avoid,  while  the  Empress,  with  her 
usual  ardor,  strongly  opposed  it.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  so-called  "  clerical "  views  attributed 
to  the  Empress,  which,  in  fact,  were  limited  to  this 
sole  point. 

The  nation  at  that  time,  or  at  least  its  representa- 
tives in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  Senate, 
strongly  favored  the  policy  of  supporting  the  Pope 
and  his  temporal  power,  as  I  was  able  to  judge  from 
the  manner  in  which  the  Emperor's  speech  was  re- 
ceived at  the  opening  of  the  Corps  Legislatif. 

I  was  in  a  gallery  exactly  opposite  the  throne,  in 
the  "  Salle  des  Etats  "  of  the  Louvre,  where  the  Em- 
peror received  the  two  Houses ;  a  magnificent  hall, 
where  the  Senators  in  uniform  and  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif were  already  seated,  waiting  for  the  Emperor, 
whose  throne,  raised  on  steps,  was  before  them.  An 
inclosed  space  was  reserved  for  the  Empress  and  her 
suite  below  the  throne  on  the  Emperor's  right  hand, 
but  at  the  side,  and  not  facing  the  assembly. 

The  Empress,  holding  the  Prince  Imperial  by  the 
hand,  passed  through  the  gallery,  where  I  stood  with 
other  privileged  spectators,  and  stopped  with  a  sort 
of  graceful  diffidence  to  give  a  general  bow  to  all 
present.     Her  refined  and  delicate  beauty  seemed 


164  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

more  exquisite  than  ever  on  that  occasion,  in  her 
picturesque  dress  and  mantle  of  white  satin,  bordered 
with  the  dark  fur  of  the  Russian  sable,  and  falling 
round  her  in  rich  soft  folds  as  she  moved  with  her 
usual  grace. 

The  little  Prince  wore  his  habitual  suit  of  black 
velvet,  with  red  stockings;  his  pretty  brown  curls 
resting  on  his  large  collar  of  rich  lace. 

When  he  had  taken  his  seat  by  the  side  of  his  mo- 
ther, "  L'  Empereur ! "  was  announced  in  a  loud  voice, 
and  the  Emperor,  in  the  full  uniform  of  a  general, 
with  his  broad  red  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
ascended  the  steps  of  the  throne  and  took  his  seat. 

All  had  risen  on  his  entrance,  but  resumed  their 
seats  to  hear  the  speech. 

He  began  in  a  loud,  clear  voice,  every  word  dis- 
tinctly audible : 

" Messieurs  les  Senateurs !   Messieurs  les  Deputes ! " 

Every  one  listened  in  dead  silence,  but  there  was 
an  occasional  wave  in  the  crowd  when  any  sentence 
was  of  particular  interest. 

At  last  he  raised  his  voice :  "  With  regard  to  mat- 
ters concerning  Italy  — " 

There  was  an  immense  surging  motion  in  the  As- 
sembly, with  exclamations —  "  Ah !  ah ! "  while  all 
leaned  forward  eagerly,  seeming  to  drink  in  his  words. 

The  Emperor  had  paused  till  silence  was  com- 
pletely restored ;  then  he  continued,  distinctly  stat- 
ing his  wishes  and  intentions:  finally,  raising  his 
voice,  he  added  with  marked  emphasis:   "Without 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  165 

forsaking  the  Holy  Father,  whom  our  rights  and  our 
duty  oblige  us  to  support." 

There  was  another  great  wave ;  again  there  were 
exclamations  of  "  Ah  !  ah ! "  but  in  tones  of  joyful 
relief,  followed  by  a  pealing  shout,  like  the  roll  of 
thunder,  "Vivel' Empereur !"  repeated  three  times. 

The  effect  was  electrifying.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  that  all  France  was  with  him  then. 

Monsieur  Thouvenel,  however,  persisted  in  his 
views,  going  so  far  beyond  the  Emperor  and  displeas- 
ing the  Empress  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  was  finally 
obliged  to  send  in  his  resignation,  which,  as  he  was 
an  ambitious  man,  cost  him  great  bitterness  of  spirit. 

Shortly  afterward,  the  Emperor,  one  morning,  was 
walking  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  with  his  aide-de- 
camp (officier  oVordonnance),  when  a  young  child  ran 
his  hoop  against  him.  The  Emperor  caught  the 
hoop,  and  gave  it  back  to  the  child,  at  the  same  time, 
with  his  usual  kindness,  stooping  to  kiss  him.  The 
boy  pushed  him  away  roughly,  and  the  aide-de-camp 
exclaimed :  "  But  the  Emperor  wishes  to  kiss  you  ! 
You  must  kiss  the  Emperor !  " 

"No,"  cried  the  child,  "  I  won't  kiss  him  !  He  is  a 
very  bad  man !    My  papa  says  so,  and  he  hates  him ! " 

"  What  is  your  father's  business  1 "  asked  the 
Emperor   quietly. 

"  Business !  My  papa  has  no  business !  He  does 
nothing  at  all  —  he  is  a  senator!" 

The  senators  being  especially  appointed  by  the 
Emperor  himself  amongst  those  supposed  to  be  most 


166  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

faithful  to  him,  the  revelation  was  startling.  The 
aide-de-camp  indignantly  inquired : 

"  What  is  your  father's  name  ? " 

The  Emperor  laid  his  hand  on  his  arm. 

"  Hush !  la  recherche  de  la  paternity  est  interdite? 

And  he  turned  away  without  hearing  the  name 
so  nearly  betrayed. 

But  the  story  was  repeated,  and  curiosity  was 
awakened,  the  age  of  the  child  causing  suspicion 
to  point  strongly  toward  Thouvenel,  the  senators 
being  mostly  old  men ;  but  the  fact  was  never  posi- 
tively elucidated. 

The  generosity  shown  by  the  Emperor  on  this  oc- 
casion was  highly  characteristic.  I  remember  an 
instance  of  a  different  kind,  which  came  to  my  per- 
sonal knowledge.  A  lady  who  was  a  friend  of  some 
of  my  cousins,  having  a  favor  to  solicit,  obtained  a 
private  audience  of  the  Emperor.  She  was  shown 
into  his  private  cabinet,  where  he  received  her  with 
the  cold,  calm  courtesy  which  marked  his  habitual 
manner.  She  began — with  what  seemed  great  bold- 
ness, and  was,  in  reality,  excellent  diplomacy  —  by 
telling  him  that  although  she  came  to  proffer  a  pe- 
tition, she  must  first  make  a  confession;  that  all 
the  members  of  her  family  were  his  political  adver- 
saries, being  zealous  Legitimists,  and  devoted  to  that 
cause.  The  Emperor  listened  calmly  in  silence. 
She  then  explained  the  favor  that  she  had  come  to 
ask,  and  pleaded  her  cause.  Still  the  Emperor  lis- 
tened with  grave  attention,  asking  a  few  questions, 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  167 

but  without  giving  any  indication  of  his  feelings  or 
of  his  decision. 

When  she  had  finished  her  statement,  and  stopped 
speaking,  she  looked  anxiously  toward  him ;  but  he 
simply  made  the  usual  motion  indicating  that  she 
might  retire.  She  moved  toward  the  door,  courte- 
ously followed  by  the  Emperor;  and  then,  suddenly 
turning  to  him,  she  said: 

"  Sire !  may  I  take  some  hope  with  me  ? " 

"  Take  certainty,  madame,"  answered  the  Emperor, 
with  that  peculiarly  charming  smile  which  at  rare 
intervals  lighted  up  his  grave  face. 

The  appeal  to  the  noble  side  of  his  nature  was 
never  made  in  vain. 

In  general,  it  was  said  that  when  a  favor  was 
asked,  and  the  Emperor  listened  in  silence,  twirling 
his  mustache,  the  petition  might  be  looked  upon  as 
granted;  but  when  he  stroked  his  chin  downward, 
and  said  seriously,  "  CJest  hien  difficile  "  (It  is  a  diffi- 
cult matter),  then  it  was  a  case  where  hope  must 
be  given  up. 

Such  were  the  variations  of  the  court  barometer, 
which  all  watched  carefully. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Clouds  in  the  sky  of  the  Empire  —  The  Mexican  "War  unpopular  — 
''L'Empire,  c'est  la  paix!" —  Financial  difficulties  —  Extrava- 
gant tendencies  of  the  Emperor  —  The  yacht  built  for  the  Em- 
press—  The  Hotel  d'Albe  built  and  destroyed  —  Expenses  of 
Compiegne  and  Fontainebleau  —  Costly  artistic  mistakes  —  The 
Emperor's  lavish  generosity  —  Too  many  improvements  in 
Paris  —  Spanish  preferences  of  the  Empress  —  She  goes  to  bull 
fights  —  The  Empress  goes  to  Spain  —  Death  of  the  Due  de 
Moray. 

MY  younger  pupil,  Hortense  de  Tascher  was  now 
gradually  introduced  into  society,  and  finally, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  she  was  admitted  to  the  court 
balls,  and  invited  to  the  festivities  of  Compiegne  and 
Fontainebleau  —  expensive  and  fatiguing  pleasures, 
more  dreaded  than  welcomed  by  those  honored  with 
invitations. 

There  were  clouds  in  the  sky  of  the  Empire,  which 
had  been  noticed  even  before  the  time  to  which  I 
now  allude.  The  war  in  Mexico  was  extremely  un- 
popular ;  no  one  understood  why  French  money  and 
French  blood  should  be  sacrificed  to  place  an  Aus- 
trian archduke  on  a  throne  in  another  hemisphere. 
The  Italian  war  had  been  unwillingly  accepted,  but 
it  had  been  successful,  and  France  had  gained  Nice 

1G8 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  169 

and  Savoy.  Glory  and  increase  of  territory  will  al- 
ways be  received  in  France  as  an  adequate  compen- 
sation for  many  sacrifices ;  but  the  Emperor  bad 
said:  "L'Empire  c'est  la  paix"  and  the  Italian  war 
had  been  preceded  by  that  of  the  Crimea,  and  was 
closely  followed  by  the  war  in  Mexico,  for  which  no 
motive  could  be  found  beyond  an  imaginative  fancy 
of  the  Empress,  worked  upon  by  Mexican  adven- 
turers who  had  gained  her  ear.  The  immense  re- 
sponsibility, so  easily  assumed,  was  new  and  most 
displeasing  to  the  French,  who,  imbued  with  the 
principle  of  the  Salic  law,  have  no  wish  to  be 
governed  by  women.  Even  in  the  case  of  regen- 
cies,— and  the  two  examples  of  Marie  de  Medicis 
and  Anne  of  Austria  had  left  unfavorable  impres- 
sions —  the  real  rulers  were  undoubtedly  Richelieu 
and  Mazarin.  The  only  instance  of  a  Queen-Con- 
sort interfering  directly  and  persistently  in  public 
affairs  was  the  very  unfortunate  case  of  Marie 
Antoinette.  Enormous  sums  were  spent  for  Mex- 
ico ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  was  well  known  that 
the  national  finances  were  in  a  bad  state.  Improve- 
ments, especially  in  Paris,  had  been  carried  on  too 
fast  and  at  too  great  a  cost.  The  Emperor  seemed 
to  have  no  idea  of  the  value  of  money,  either 
with  regard  to  the  funds  of  the  nation  or  his  own 
private  expenses.  Generous,  even  to  extravagance, 
he  gave  to  all  who  asked ;  and  not  only  to  promote 
scientific  inventions  or  to  encourage  charitable 
institutions,  which  might  have  been  approved,  but 


170  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

also  to  those  who  appealed  to  him  for  their  pri- 
vate interests,  and  not  always  honorable  debts. 
There  was  no  gambling  in  the  Emperor's  private 
circle;  bnt  some  of  the  courtiers  gambled  else- 
where, and  lost  large  sums  at  play.  The  Empe- 
ror's assistance  was  then  implored,  with  threats  of 
suicide  and  public  scandal.  Others  became  involved 
in  speculations,  the  fever  of  the  period.  These 
were  sometimes  of  a  doubtful  kind.  Matters  were 
then  hushed  up,  and  the  Emperor  paid.  There  were 
other  important  sums  spent  for  other  expenses, —  to 
which  we  can  only  allude, —  the  least  justifiable  of 
all.  The  Emperor  had  a  very  large  Civil  List  from 
the  nation;  but  he  was  obliged  to  keep  up  all  the  im- 
perial palaces,  with  their  furniture,  gardens,  and  re- 
pairs at  his  own  expense.  The  court  was  established 
on  a  splendid  scale;  its  functionaries  were  only  too 
numerous,  and  they  were  all  well  paid.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Empire,  money  had  seemed  inex- 
haustible, and  had  been  largely  squandered  in 
empty,  and  often  unnecessary  magnificence.  Both 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  seemed  to  imagine  that 
they  had  in  their  possession  the  purse  of  fairy  tales, 
which  is  always  full  of  gold.  The  Empress,  soon 
after  her  marriage,  had  a  fancy  for  a  yacht  of  her 
own.  Immediately  a  beautiful  little  toy  was  built 
for  her,  too  small  to  be  of  any  use,  but  a  little 
gem,  with  the  greatest  luxury  shown  in  every  detail. 
She  had  the  beautiful  Hotel  d'Albe1  built  for  her 

1  The  ball  previously  described  took  place  in  this  residence. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  171 

sister,  and  no  expense  was  spared  to  make  it  per- 
fect. The  Duchess  of  Alva  died  there  shortly  after 
the  splendid  ball  which  had  been  given  for  its  inau- 
guration. The  Empress  then  could  no  longer  en- 
dure to  see  it,  and  it  was  recklessly  pulled  down, 
after  only  a  few  months  of  use.  How  unreasonable 
this  act  was,  under  the  circumstances,  will  be  easily 
understood;  it  was  much  regretted  by  all  around 
her.1 

The  expenses  of  Compiegne  and  Fontainebleau 
were  enormous,  out  of  all  proportion  to  any  advan- 
tage to  be  gained  by  such  lavish  hospitality ;  and 
these  were  continued  yearly. 

The  Emperor  was  easily  talked  over  by  those  who, 
like  Viollet-le-Duc,  the  well-known  architect,  ap- 
pealed to  him  in  the  name  of  "art" — a  subject 
strangely  foreign  to  his  natural  faculties.  The  Em- 
peror was  a  remarkable  mathematician,  and  was  also 
strongly  attracted  by  scientific  pursuits ;  but  "  art " 
was  an  unknown  language  to  him.  The  Empress 
had  some  pretensions  to  a  better  understanding  of 
the  subject;  but  according  to  the  judgment  of 
real  connoisseurs  her  taste  was  far  from  pure,  and 
she  was  attracted  more  by  showy  appearances  than 
by  real  artistic  merit.  The  whole  style  of  the  Em- 
pire was  too  ornate  and  meretricious. 

The  worst    consequence   of   these   various   influ- 

1  The  Avenue  de  l'Alma  was  opened  on  the  spot  previously  oc- 
cupied by  the  "Hotel  d'Albe."  An  hotel  for  travelers,  near  the 
place,  took  the  name,  but  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  destroyed 
residence. 


172  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

ences,  was  that  of  leading  the  Emperor  to  spend 
enormous  sums  in  undertakings  of  a  doubtful  ad- 
vantage, by  no  means  universally  approved  in  the 
artistic  world,  and,  at  all  events,  wholly  unnecessary. 

General  Rolin,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Household, 
was  a  scrupulously  honest  man,  who  looked  conscien- 
tiously into  the  smallest  details,  and  who,  while  keep- 
ing up  the  splendor  and  liberality  which  characterized 
the  living  arrangements  of  the  Imperial  residences, 
yet  watchfully  stopped  abuses,  and  managed  so 
judiciously  that  he  often  kept  within  the  sum  al- 
lowed him,  so  as  to  have  a  surplus,  which  he  care- 
fully handed  to  the  Treasurer.  But  all  were  not  so 
able,  nor  perhaps  so  scrupulous,  and  the  careless 
generosity  of  the  Emperor  was  preyed  upon;  the 
result  of  this  universal  openhandedness  being  that, 
after  he  had  reigned  eighteen  years  with  enormous 
sums  at  his  disposal,  the  personal  property  of  Na- 
poleon III.  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  sworn  under 
£120,000  in  the  Probate  Court  of  London. 

The  Empress  was  more  prudent  than  the  Emperor 
in  her  private  expenses,  but  her  allowance  was  very 
large,  and  her  fancies,  as  we  have  seen,  were  not 
always  reasonable. 

The  Empress  was  unpopular,  a  great  deal  that 
was  blamed  being  attributed  to  her  influence,  the 
supposed  effects  of  which  irritated  the  general  feel- 
ing, that  she  was  not  in  her  rightful  place. 

Unfortunately,  according  to  the  testimony  of  many 
who  were  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to  judge  her 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  173 

actions,  she  never  understood  the  requirements  of 
her  high  position  as  the  wife  of  the  sovereign  ruler 
of  France.  She  was  a  Spanish  lady  of  high  degree, 
and  such  she  remained,  without  ever  bringing  to  her 
mind  the  truth  contained  in  the  French  proverb 
Qui  prmd  marl  prend  patrie  ("Who  takes  a  husband 
takes  a  fatherland).  In  the  final  catastrophe  dur- 
ing the  war,  she  very  nobly  asserted  the  interests 
of  France,  with  the  sacrifice  of  those  concerning  the 
throne  and  the  dynasty ;  had  she  always  acted  in  the 
same  spirit,  she  would  have  gained  the  good-will  of 
the  nation ;  but,  unfortunately,  she  never,  till  then, 
showed  French  preferences.  She  had  an  English 
nurse  for  her  son;  an  excellent  choice,  but  not 
judicious  with  regard  to  the  feeling  of  the  nation. 
Because  the  Queen  of  England  dressed  her  children 
in  Highland  garb,  she  had  a  Highland  costume  made 
for  the  Prince  Imperial,  without  understanding  that 
what  was  perfectly  suitable  for  the  descendants  of 
the  kings  of  Scotland,  became  a  mere  masquer- 
ade for  the  son  of  the  Bonapartes.  These  are 
trifles,  it  may  be  objected;  but  such  trifles,  of 
frequent  occurrence,  have  a  greater  influence  on  the 
public  mind  than  she  imagined;  for  she  always 
acted  like  a  private  individual  whose  fancies  pass 
unnoticed.  In  the  south  of  France,  when  she  went 
to  Biarritz,  she  attended  bull-fights,  wearing  her 
Spanish  mantilla,  with  a  pomegranate  flower  in  her 
hair,  following  all  the  incidents  of  the  horrid  scene 
with  the  greatest  excitement,  clapping  her  hands  and 


174  LIFE  IN  THE  TUELEEIES 

uttering  loud  Spanish  cries  of  encouragement,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  Madrid,  but  which  seemed 
strangely  misplaced  in  the  case  of  a  French  Empress. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  she  had  gone  with  her 
suite  to  see  the  bulls  in  their  inclosure,  the  day  be- 
fore the  corrida,  and  as  she  drew  very  near  to  the 
fence,  she  was  cautioned  as  to  possible  danger. 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  replied,  "  they  are  Spanish  bulls, 
and  I  have  nothing  to  fear  from  them." 

As  she  spoke,  a  low  suppressed  bellow  was  heard 
just  behind  her.  Although  they  were  "Spanish 
bulls,"  her  confidence  in  their  sagacity  did  not  seem 
complete,  for  she  uttered  a  loud  scream  and  took 
flight  with  great  rapidity,  till  the  laughter  she  heard 
caused  her  to  look  back,  when  she  recognized  that 
she  had  an  adversary  near  her  no  more  dangerous 
than  the  Due  de  Tascher,  who  had  mischievously 
put  her  nerves  to  the  test. 

When  she  was  at  Biarritz  the  Empress  tried  to 
look  as  Spanish  as  she  could,  and  wore  fanciful 
dresses  with  as  much  bright  scarlet  as  possible.  The 
Prince  de  Chimay  told  me  that  one  day,  seeing  a 
group  of  ladies  very  brilliantly  attired,  with  a  great 
deal  of  red  about  them,  he  had  supposed  that  they 
were  the  wives  of  the  "  toreros,"  or  champions  of  the 
bull-fight,  but,  on  drawing  near  to  examine  them,  he 
was  thunderstruck  as  he  recognized  the  Empress  and 
her  ladies. 

The  Empress  had  a  great  wish  to  return  to  Spain 
and  to  show  herself  in  her  present  dignity.    There 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  175 

were  strong  objections  to  this,  and  Merimee,1  who, 
as  an  old  and  intimate  friend  of  the  Comtesse  de  Mon- 
ti] o,  had  some  influence  over  her  daughter,  tried  in 
vain  to  point  out  to  her  the  difficulties  which  would 
arise,  the  false  position  in  which  she  would  be  placed. 
He  relates  amusingly  in  his  letters  the  discussion 
with  the  Empress  Eugenie,  who  persisted  in  assert- 
ing that  she  did  not  see  why  she  could  not  go  to 
Spain,  if  she  chose,  like  other  people.  Merimee  an- 
swered :  "  Because  queens  and  empresses  cannot  do 
what  other  people  do ;  they  are  subjected  to  a  num- 
ber of  impediments  which  do  not  concern  other  peo- 
ple ;  this  is  the  case  with  all  sovereigns  —  and  this  is 
the  reason  why  I  have  always  refused  all  the  crowns 
which  have  been  offered  to  me."  The  conclusion,  ut- 
tered with  absolute  gravity  of  tone,  first  caused  the 
Empress  to  open  her  eyes  wide ;  then  she  laughed 
heartily,  but  still  would  not  yield.  Soon  afterward 
she  began  to  cruise  round  the  coast  of  Spain,  landing 
at  Gibraltar,  Valencia,  Cadiz,  etc.,  so  as  to  provoke 
an  invitation  to  Madrid  from  Queen  Isabella,  which 
was  duly  sent.  The  Empress  was  not  likely  to  lose 
such  an  opportunity,  and  though  with  an  insufficient 
suite,  she  immediately  went  to  Madrid,  where  the 
Queen  received  her  at  the  royal  palace. 

The  obeisance  of  a  subject  to  the  sovereign,  accord- 
ing to  Spanish  etiquette,  requires  that  the  knee 
should  almost  touch  the  ground.  This  was  most 
gracefully  performed  by  the  Empress,  but,  although 

1  The  well-known  French  writer. 


176  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

perfect  for  Mademoiselle  de  Montijo,  was  it  quite  ap- 
propriate as  an  homage  from  the  wife  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  French  ? 

The  Queen  of  Spain  was  naturally  much  gratified, 
but  the  French  suite  had  dubious  feelings  on  the 
subject,  which  was  much  talked  of  on  their  return. 

The  Spaniards  received  her  very  coldly,  and  made 
no  demonstrations,  but  the  Queen  honored  her  visit 
with  the  usual  receptions,  a  ball,  a  state  visit  to  the 
opera,  and  last,  not  least,  a  bull-fight. 

The  Empress  returned,  delighted  with  her  visit. 
But  the  French  were  still  more  inclined  to  repeat 
what  had  been  said  before :  "  She  was  determined  to 
become  an  Empress.  Well,  now,  let  her  act  like 
one ! "  Even  her  deference  to  the  Queen  of  England 
was  deemed  excessive  by  French  pride. 

And  yet  her  simplicity,  and  the  almost  pleading 
diffidence  of  her  manner  on  official  occasions,  had 
a  great  charm,  and  were  certainly  more  creditable  to 
her  than  the  haughtiness  which  so  many  would 
have  mistaken  for  dignity  in  such  a  change  of 
position. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  Empress, 
at  times,  weary  of  the  restraints  of  her  rank,  threw 
them  off:  too  recklessly.  When  she  went  to  England 
and  Scotland  for  a  change  of  scene  after  the  death 
of  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Alva,  she  attracted  very 
unfavorable  notice  in  London,  where,  at  that  time 
especially,  ladies  of  rank  were  subjected  to  strict 
rules  of  custom  and  decorum. 


•UCHESS    <  »l     Al  VA    AND    CHILDREN. 


FROM     A     PHOTOGRAPH     BY     LADREY-DISDEH  I. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  177 

Lord  Malniesbury  says,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  an  ex- 
Minister  " : 

"  The  Empress  of  the  French  arrived  in  London, 
and  drove  with  her  suite  to  Claridge's  Hotel  in  hack 
cabs.  The  following  morning  she  went  ont  shop- 
ping, on  foot,  and  to  the  Crystal  Palace  in  the  after- 
noon." 

I  well  remember  the  surprise  and  displeasure  of 
all  the  English  who  spoke  to  me  on  the  subject  at 
the  time.  These  small  incidents  confirmed  the  gen- 
eral impression  that  royalty  is  a  trade  which  must 
be  learned  like  any  other. 

The  death  of  the  Due  de  Moray,  which  occurred 
just  at  the  time  when  difficulties  were  beginning  to 
gather  round  the  Emperor,  was  deeply  felt  by  him; 
the  more  deeply  that  the  blow  was  very  sudden. 
Moray  had  been  in  weak  health  for  some  time,  but 
no  one  dreamed  of  any  danger.  His  constitution 
was,  however,  really  giving  way,  and  an  accidental 
chill,  producing  a  sort  of  diphtheria,  ended  his  life 
with  fearful  rapidity. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  both  attended  his  sick 
bed;  the  former  was  deeply  affected.  The  loss  to 
him  was  indeed  irreparable.  Moray's  interests  and 
liis  own  were  identical.  Moray  was  naturally  de- 
voted to  the  Empire,  while  his  clear  intellect,  his  de- 
t'Tiniii.'d  spirit,  and  his  far  more  practical  views, 
wen-  of  immense  assistance  to  the  Emperor,  who 
was  too  imaginative,  and  often  too  sentimental. 
The  question  of  "sensibility"  never   stood   in  the 

12 


178  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

way  of  Moray's  intentions  or  plans.  He  had  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  acute  good  sense,  very  little 
heart,  and  no  principle ;  but  he  possessed  charming 
and  captivating  manners,  with  the  appearance  of 
having  all  that  was  really  deficient;  withal  he  had 
perfect  self-command  and  considerable  personal 
courage,  always  seeing  clearly  before  him  the 
wished-for  goal,  and  going  straight  to  it  without 
looking  to  the  right  or  left. 

No  one  could  conciliate  adversaries  so  well  as 
Moray;  he  always  knew  what  to  say,  and  how  to 
say  it,  without  being  stopped  by  inconvenient  scru- 
ples or  too  rigid  principles. 

Had  Moray  lived,  many  mistakes  might  have  been 
avoided  when  the  time  of  trial  came ;  his  irresistible 
influence  would  certainly  have  been  felt,  and  might 
have  prevented  the  evils  which  led  to  the  downfall 
of  the  unhappy  Emperor,  who  was  fated  to  lose  his 
best  advisers  at  the  time  when  their  presence  was 
most  needed. 

But  Moray  died;  there  was  a  magnificent  funeral; 
his  wife  gave  way  to  the  most  violent  grief ;  he  was 
the  subject  of  all  conversations  for  some  time,  with 
praise  and  blame,  both  of  which  were  deserved,  and 
then,  as  usual,  he  was  forgotten.  His  official  place 
was  taken,  though  not  filled  —  and  his  wife  finally 
married  a  Spanish  grandee,  the  Due  de  Sesto. 

Such  is  the  world.  The  more  serious  among  his 
numerous  friends  found  some  comfort  in  the  fact 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  had  spent  considerable 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  179 

time  by  his  bedside  to  prepare  him  for  the  last  hour, 
and  had  administered  the  rites  of  the  Catholic 
Church  to  the  dying  man,  who,  though  certainly 
faulty,  was  not  impenitent.  He  left  four  young 
children;  the  eldest,  then  only  seven  years  old,  is 
now  Due  de  Moray. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Evenings  in  the  apartments  of  the  Duchesse  de  Tascher — Madame 
Ristori,  the  tragic  actress  —  How  a  stage  queen  ate  asparagus  — 
Her  conversation  —  Sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  luggage  — 
Danger  in  a  glass  of  lemonade  —  Recitations  —  The  real  dress 
of  Queen  Mary  on  the  scaffold  —  Madame  Ristori's  impersona- 
tion of  Mary  Stuart  —  The  evil  eye  —  The  value  of  stage  bou- 
quets as  a  mark  of  public  enthusiasm  —  Leopold  von  Mayer  — 
How  he  played  the  piano  with  his  fists  —  He  plays  before  the 
Sultan  —  Death  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges  — The  Papal 
Nuncio  —  Prince  Chigi  —  Djemil  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Am- 
bassador—  Marriage  of  Hortense  de  Tascher  to  the  Comte  de 
l'Espine. 


AMONG-  the  remarkable  visitors  received  in  the 
J\.  evenings  by  the  Duchesse  de  Tascher  was  the 
tragic  actress  Madame  Ristori,  who  had  married  the 
Marchese  Capranica  del  Grillo,  and  was  treated  as  a 
"marquise"  although  she  had  not  given  up  the 
stage.  I  felt  a  great  curiosity  to  see  her  in  private 
life,  and  was  delighted  when  I  first  heard  that  she 
was  coming  to  dinner  like  any  ordinary  mortal. 
She  was  rather  late,  which  disturbed  the  punctual 
habits  of  the  family,  but  just  as  some  annoyance 
was  felt  and  expressed  she  appeared,  followed  by 
her  small,  insignificant  husband — a  gentleman,  evi- 
dently, but  not  remarkable  in  any  respect.    Madame 

180 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  181 

Ristori  struck  me  as  a  very  handsome  woman,  tall 
and  majestic  in  appearance,  very  natural  and  good- 
humored,  without  any  stage  affectation,  but  not  to 
be  mistaken  for  a  gentlewoman,  however  well  she 
might  play  queens.  Her  whole  figure  and  her  mo- 
tions recalled  the  Italian  Contadina  or  peasant-wo- 
man ;  not  the  high-born  Signora.  She  talked  a  great 
deal,  with  animated  gestures  and  a  full,  mellow  con- 
tralto voice,  which  every  now  and  then  went  off 
into  a  stage  intonation,  but  was  usually  agreeable, 
though  she  threw  into  everything  she  said  a  degree 
of  fire  and  excitement  not  usual  in  general  society. 

I  was  particularly  amused  by  the  peculiar  way  in 
which  the  tragic  queen  disposed  of  the  asparagus  on 
her  plate.  The  tips  were  first  daintily  cut  off ;  but 
then  a  knife  held  as  firmly  as  her  stage  dagger  gath- 
ered them  up,  while  her  thumb  secured  them  on  the 
point  and  thus  conveyed  them  to  her  lips  with  great 
and  rapid  dexterity. 

She  constantly  appealed  to  her  husband  as  "  Griu- 
liano."  He  seemed  utterly  weary  of  his  task  of  lead- 
ing "Madame,"  as  he  called  his  wife,  all  over  the 
world,  with  her  theatrical  satellites  and  her  enor- 
mous amount  of  luggage,  on  which  she  inquired  for 
our  information : 

"  Giuliano  !  Quanto  peso  abbiamo  noi  ?" 1 

He  answered,  "Sixteen  thousand  pounds";  which 
may  truly  be  considered  as  an  incumbrance. 

He  told  me,  as  an  example  of  the  equivocal  de- 

1  "What  weight  do  we  t;iko  with  us?" 


182  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

lights  of  the  position,  that  "Madame"  had  been  once 
poisoned  by  a  rival  actress.  When  she  came  off  the 
stage  in  a  state  of  dramatic  fever,  Madame  was  in 
the  habit  of  drinking  eagerly  a  large  glass  of  lemon- 
ade. On  this  occasion  her  amiable  rival  had  steeped  a 
bundle  of  lucifer  matches  in  the  lemonade,  which 
naturally  produced  extremely  unpleasant  conse- 
quences, enabling  "Madame"  fully  to  understand  the 
effects  of  poison  in  her  tragic  scenes ;  but,  in  this 
instance,  fortunately  stopping  half-way,  thanks  to 
prompt  medical  assistance. 

After  dinner,  she  interested  every  one  present  by 
analyzing  with  great  intelligence  the  character  of 
Mary  Stuart,  one  of  her  best  impersonations.  She 
told  us  that  she  had  suppressed  the  love  scenes  with 
"Mortimer"  in  the  tragedy,  as  unnatural  under  the 
circumstances. 

"  At  the  time  of  her  death  Queen  Mary  was  forty- 
five  ;  she  had  been  a  prisoner  for  eighteen  years.  Is 
it  possible  that  she  should  then  think  of  coquetting? 
No,  no ;  my  instinct  (mm  instinct)  tells  me  that  Mary 
Stuart's  thoughts  were  all  in  heaven." 

She  related  to  us  her  opportunities  of  seeing  his- 
torical relics  of  the  time ;  the  real  veil  of  Queen 
Mary,  and  her  real  rosary,  which  she  herself  had 
been  obliged  to  have  otherwise  for  stage  effect.  The 
real  veil  is  in  white  silk,  of  a  texture  which  would 
now  be  considered  coarse,  with  cross-barred  lines  of 
gold  thread.  The  beads  of  the  rosary  are  of  dark-blue 
enamel,  like  lapis  lazuli,  and  would  not  be  effective 
on  the  black  dress. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  183 

During  this  conversation  the  rooms  had  filled,  and 
the  Duchesse  de  Tascher  then  asked  the  interesting 
guest  to  recite  some  passages  from  "Maria  Stuarda"; 
to  which  she  acceded,  very  kindly  and  naturally,  with- 
out pretension. 

I  must  acknowledge  that  my  first  impression  on 
seeing  the  visitor  with  whom  I  had  just  been  con- 
versing suddenly  rush  forward  with  clasped  hands, 
and  tragic  exclamations,  was  that  of  a  fit  of  insanity ; 
but  after  a  few  words  all  was  forgotten  in  the  charm 
of  that  exquisite  enunciation,  and  the  melody  of  her 
voice,  now  swelling  in  tragic  tones,  now  sinking  to 
the  softest  murmur;  while  her  face  seemed  trans- 
figured. Every  one  was  thrilled  and  captivated ;  but 
the  surprise  of  the  conclusion  was  as  great  as  that 
of  the  beginning.  When  the  last  word  had  been 
uttered,  with  the  most  moving  effect,  she  sat  down 
and  fanned  herself  as  calmly  as  before,  quite  another 
individual,  while  all  around  her  were  too  breathless 
to  be  able  even  to  express  their  admiration  at  the  first 
moment.  Then  she  was  surrounded  and  thanked, 
with  entreaties  for  more,  to  which  she  yielded  with 
great  good  nature,  reciting  both  in  French  and 
Italian ;  but  the  former  was  much  spoiled  by  the 
marked  Italian  accent,  notwithstanding  tho  merits 
of  the  interpretation. 

Among  the  listeners  was  an  Italian  marchese,  of 
the  illustrious  house  of  Visconti,  and  I  expressed  my 
admiration  to  him. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  she  is  a  fine  actress  and  a  good 


184  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

sort  of  woman;  ma  una  jettatrice1  ("but  she  has  the 
evil  eye  "). 

"  Jettatrice  !  "  I  exclaimed,  in  astonishment. 

"  Yes,  una  jettatrice.  Look ! "  and  he  showed  me 
his  hand  concealed  under  his  coat ;  closed,  with  the 
forefinger  and  the  little  finger  extended,  like  two 
horns,  which  is  supposed  to  act  as  a  countercharm. 

"  You  see  my  hand.  I  shall  not  change  that  posi- 
tion of  my  fingers  till  she  goes.  Don't  laugh, —  I  am 
quite  in  earnest,  and  it  is  quite  necessary.  Ask  your 
Emperor  whether  she  has  the  evil  eye  or  not." 

It  was  a  curious  coincidence  that  every  time  the 
Emperor  had  gone  to  see  Madame  Eistori  perform 
some  serious  event  had  occurred,  the  last  occasion 
being  on  the  night  of  the  Orsini  explosions.  But  the 
tenacity  with  which  the  superstition  of  the  evil  eye 
is  rooted  in  the  minds  of  Italians  is  curious  to 
observe. 

Shortly  afterward,  I  went  with  the  Duchesse  de 
Bassano  to  see  Madame  Eistori  interpret  the  charac- 
ter of  Queen  Mary.  I  was  fascinated,  delighted,  but 
was  made  miserable  for  some  days  afterward,  which, 
a  critic  contended,  should  not  be  the  effect  of  true 
art.  The  actress  met  with  an  enthusiastic  reception, 
and  a  shower  of  bouquets  fell  at  her  feet  when  she 
was  recalled  after  the  heart-breaking  execution  of 
poor  Mary — when  the  two  blows  of  the  axe  had  been 
heard  by  the  audience.    I  mentioned  the  profusion 

1  Ajettatore,  or,  in  the  feminine,  jettatrice,  is  said  of  those  who  have 
"  the  evil  eye,"  and  are  supposed  to  bring  misfortune  with  them. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  185 


. 


of  flowers  to  Count  Molin,  a  descendant  of  one  of 
the  Doges  of  Venice. 

He  answered  very  quietly :  "  Yes,  I  know.  I 
threw  them  all." 

"  You  threw  them  f    You  were  so  generous  ?  " 

"Not  at  all  generous.  I  know  La  Ristori,  and 
the  flowers  were  brought  to  me  in  my  box,  with  a 
request  to  throw  them  after  the  recall,  following 
the  great  scene  with  Elizabeth.  I  threw  them  con- 
scientiously as  directed;  they  were  brought  back 
to  me,  and  I  threw  them  all  again,  according  to 
orders,  at  the  end  of  the  play!" 

This  peep  into  stage  trickery  was  amusing,  but 
rather  disconcerting  as  to  the  value  of  apparent 
enthusiasm ! 

Another  almost  regular  visitor  at  the  receptions 
of  the  Duchesse  de  Tascher  was  the  celebrated  pian- 
ist, now  forgotten,  Leopold  von  Mayer,  whose  tre- 
mendous execution  was  rather  alarming  for  the 
safety  of  the  instruments  under  his  hands.  He 
very  often  sent  his  own,  which  had  been  especially 
prepared  for  his  performance,  in  which  his  closed 
fists  actually  played  a  part,  to  the  amazement  of  the 
bystanders.  How  this  was  done  was  a  puzzle  diffi- 
cult to  solve.  His  favorite  assertion,  in  his  Ger- 
man-English, was:  "My  Ankers  are  my  slafes" 
(my  fingers  are  my  slaves);  but  fingers  were  not 
apparent  in  this  instance.  After  comparing  notes 
with  the  Due  de  Bassano,  we  both  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  thumb,  folded  and  protruding 


186  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

from  under  the  closed  fist,  performed  those  strange 
wonders  of  unartistic  jugglery. 

There  was  a  story  of  his  having  been  summoned 
to  play  before  the  Sultan  during  a  visit  to  Constan- 
tinople. Mayer  was  duly  ushered  into  the  august 
presence;  but  no  instrument  was  visible,  and  he 
was  wondering  as  to  what  was  coming  next,  when 
he  saw  his  piano  appear,  poised  on  the  shoulders 
of  four  Turks,  the  usual  supports  having  been  un- 
screwed and  removed.  The  indignation  of  the 
choleric  German  may  be  imagined,  who  insisted 
on  the  pristine  condition  being  restored;  but  he 
was  told  that  he  must  not  sit  down  before  the 
Sultan,  and  consequently  being  obliged  to  play 
standing,  the  instrument  must  be  raised  to  his 
height.  Mayer's  fists  would  probably  have  floored 
the  four  Turks,  and  the  piano  with  them,  besides 
the  inconvenience  of  such  an  unusual  position;  so, 
after  an  energetic  battle,  the  Sultan  yielded,  and 
Mayer  was  able  to  perform  in  Christian  fashion. 

The  kind  and  venerable  Archbishop  of  Bourges 
died1  about  this  time,  and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt 
by  the  whole  family  of  de  Tascher.  I  remember 
Hortense  de  Tascher  bursting  into  tears  at  the 
luncheon-table,  when  his  secretary  was  relating  his 
last  illness;  how  he  spoke  of  the  de  Taschers  and 
of  his  pleasant  evenings  with  them,  recalling  the 
games  of  chess,  and  again  saying  with  his  char- 
acteristic simplicity:   "I  don't  know  how  it  is  —  I 

1  At  his  archiepiscopal  palace  of  Bourges,  not  at  the  Tuileries. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  187 

really  got  the  better  of  "Albion,"  but  I  never  could 
conquer  little  Hortense." 

Dear  old  man !  There  never  was  a  better  or  purer 
soul — "even  as  that  of  a  little  child." 

The  Papal  Nuncio,  Prince  Chigi,  was  a  frequent 
visitor;  a  magnificent  prelate  in  his  purple  robes; 
tall  and  of  noble  figure  —  his  well-cut  features  of 
the  most  aristocratic  type.  He  always  left  the 
rooms  at  ten  o'clock,  after  taking  tea,  which  I 
brought  him  myself  as  a  mark  of  respect;  when 
he  would  apologize  again  and  again,  with  court- 
eous politeness,  repeating :  "  Troppo  buona !  troppo 
buona."  (too  kind.) 

Djemil  Pasha,  the  Turkish  ambassador,  was  also 
a  frequent  guest.  He  was  amusiugly  fond  of  tea, 
made  in  British  fashion,  and  always  came  anxiously 
to  inquire  of  me  if  I  was  to  make  it,  or  if  it  was 
left  to  the  servants.  If  I  replied  that,  the  party  beiug 
large,  the  servants  undertook  that  care,  he  groaned : 

"  Oh  !  what  a  pity  ! " 

I  remained  for  two  more  years  under  these  plea- 
sant circumstances  with  my  dear  pupil,  Hortense  de 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  to  whom  I  was  most  deeply  at- 
tached— one  of  the  sweetest  beings  I  have  ever  met 
in  the  whole  course  of  my  life,  and  whose  untimely 
death,  which  so  soon  followed  her  happy  marriage 
with  the  Comte  de  l'Espine,  was  mourned  as  a  sort 
of  public  calamity  by  all  who  knew  her,  even  if  only 
by  name.1 

1  Her  daughter  is  now  the  Princess  Louis  de  Croy. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

I  leave  the  Tuileries  —  Opinion  in  the  provinces  —  The  Empress 
severely  judged  —  Exaggerated  reports  —  Intimacy  with  Met- 
ternich  and  Nigra  —  Why  the  Emperor  disapproved — Opinion 
expressed  by  the  Due  de  Tascher  on  the  Empress,  before  her 
marriage  —  Outbreak  of  the  cholera —  Her  admirable  conduct  — 
How  an  Empress  "stands  fire" — Nature  and  education  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie — The  Empress  Augusta  of  Germany  —  The 
Empress  Eugenie  visits  charitable  institutions —  Mile.  Bouvet  — 
The  Empress  visits  the  poor  —  Goes  to  Belleville  and  other 
dangerous  places  —  Excellent  intentions  not  always  wisely  car- 
ried out  —  Successful  interference  in  the  Penitentiary  for  Juve- 
nile Offenders. 


M 


Y  own  health  had  suffered  severely  from  the 
consequences  of  a  very  serious  carriage  acci- 
dent, and  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  of  my  pupil 
Hortense  I  left  the  palace  where  I  had  spent  nine 
years,  still  remaining  on  terms  of  the  closest  inti- 
macy with  all  the  family,  and  their  guest  whenever 
I  came  to  Paris,  returning  from  the  health-resorts 
where  I  was  sent  to  undergo  medical  treatment 
which  lasted  several  years. 

Of  course  I  now  heard  a  great  deal  as  to  general 
opinions  in  the  provinces,  where  the  Empress  was 
severely  judged.  Her  intimacy  with  the  Princess 
Metternich  and  other  eccentric  foreigners,  the  tone 

188 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  189 

which  was  admitted  at  the  court,  the  style  of  her 
friends,  were  bitterly  criticized,  and  often  I  had  to 
rectify  most  exaggerated  statements.  These  were 
reflected  in  the  public  papers,  in  consequence  of  the 
greater  liberty  now  conceded  to  the  press.  But  the 
effect  of  misrepresentation  was  only  to  make  the 
Empress  rebellious  and  reckless,  although  in  reality 
she  was  distressed  and  grieved,  but  she  became  ex- 
asperated and  only  more  disposed  to  indulge  in 
what  was  blamed. 

A  great  official  of  the  court  said  to  me,  earnestly : 
"  If  she  would  only  take  warning  by  the  example  of 
Marie  Antoinette!  It  is  exactly  the  same  history 
over  again.  But  she  will  take  no  hint.  My  wife 
tried,  but  was  made  to  feel  that  she  must  not 
attempt  anything  of  the  kind." 

The  Emperor's  private  conduct  was  a  constant  sub- 
ject of  conversation  outside  of  the  court,  where  only 
mysterious  whispers  were  heard ;  but  in  general  so- 
ciety, both  in  Paris  and  the  provinces,  everything 
was  known  and  freely  talked  about.  The  Empress 
was  violently  jealous,  both  with  and  without  cause, 
multiplying  vehement  scenes  and  threatening  ex- 
treme measures  of  public  scandal.  Everything  was 
done  to  divert  her  mind.  She  was  first  sent  to  take 
the  waters  of  Schwalbach,  in  Germany,  where  prin- 
cipalities and  powers  showed  her  great  courtesy,  per- 
haps through  motives  of  benevolent  curiosity. 

On  her  return  to  her  imperial  home,  she  was  more 
and  more  initiated  into  political  questions,  which 


190  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

pleased  and  flattered  her  by  giving  importance  to  her 
opinion  and  her  judgment.  The  Empress  was  ex- 
tremely intelligent,  but  also  extremely  superficial,  and 
had  received  a  very  imperfect  education.  To  the  last 
she  never  learned  to  write  French  with  grammatical 
correctness,  although  her  style  was  natural,  spirited, 
and  good  in  such  letters  as  are  known  of  her  inditing. 
She  felt  the  imperfection  of  her  historical  knowledge 
especially,  and  its  consequences  with  regard  to  the 
political  matters  which  interested  her,  and  caused 
great  surprise  by  coming  to  the  very  sensible  deci- 
sion of  taking  regular  lessons  in  the  history  of  France 
from  a  well-known  professor,  Fustel  de  Coulanges. 

Having  a  remarkably  good  memory,  she  soon 
gathered  enough  to  serve  her  purpose,  and  often  to 
surprise  those  with  whom  she  conversed  by  bringing 
in  examples  of  her  newly  acquired  knowledge  with 
great  adroitness. 

There  was  a  strange  but  very  characteristic  incon- 
sistency in  her  proceedings.  Now,  she  was  deep  in 
politics,  showing  a  passionate  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  state,  and  vehemently  trying  to  enforce  her 
views ;  then,  again,  she  plunged  into  incessant  frivol- 
ities with  the  same  interest  and  a  sort  of  insatiable, 
restless  craving,  talking  of  dress  incessantly,  as  if  it 
were  the  most  important  consideration  in  the  world, 
as  it  had  really  become  in  the  society  of  the  court 
through  her  example. 

Madame  Octave  Feuillet,  in  her  reminiscences, 
describes  her  agonies  of  anxiety  as  to  her  toilet  on 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  191 

the  occasion  of  her  first  dinner  at  the  Tuileries,  and 
the  fatigue  incurred  in  conquering  difficulties  till 
she  reached  perfection,  all  this  related  as  a  matter 
of  unavoidable  necessity.  She  had  the  delight  of 
being  addressed  at  once  by  the  Empress  with  a 
compliment  on  the  elief  (Vwucre,  and  the  request: 
"  You  will  tell  me  the  name  of  your  '  couturiere  ? ' " 
An  explanation  followed  that  the  work  of  art  had 
been  performed  by  Worth,  then  a  budding  celebrity, 
whom  the  Empress  immediately  patronized.  There 
is  scarcely  a  court  in  Europe  where  a  sovereign 
lady  would  begin  a  conversation  thus ;  but,  un- 
happily, the  Empress  Eugenie  had  not  the  early 
training  nor  the  official  reticence  of  a  royal  princess. 
In  the  same  fanciful  spirit,  her  private  feelings 
toward  the  ministers  were  too  plainly  shown  in  her 
political  intercourse  with  them.  When  she  liked  or 
disliked  the  individual,  she  took  no  pains  to  conceal 
her  impressions,  which  often  gave  great  offense,  and 
caused  considerable  trouble  to  the  Emperor,  who 
was  obliged  to  salve  over  wounds  which  might  pro- 
duce serious  complications.  There  was  no  possibility 
of  making  the  Empress  understand  that  such  mat- 
ters had  a  very  different  degree  of  importance  from 
mere  society  squabbles. 

All  these  "little  things"  annoyed  the  Emperor, 
who  also  disapproved  of  her  intimacy  with  Metternich 
and  Nigra  ;  not  from  personal  jealousy,  knowing 
tli.il  there  was  no  cause,  but  for  political  reasons. 
It  was  dangerous  for  a  frank,  open-hearted  woman, 


192  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

who  was  too  much  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
state,  to  be  so  very  friendly  with  two  wily  diploma- 
tists, to  whom  straws  show  where  the  wind  blows. 
Metternich,  who  was  soft  and  of  rather  a  weak 
mind,  was  really  fascinated  by  her  attractions,  more 
perhaps  than  his  wife  might  have  approved  —  espe- 
cially at  first,  for  the  impression  seems  to  have  less- 
ened after  some  time ;  but  Nigra,  who  played  a  most 
enthusiastic  part,  is  currently  suspected  of  having 
feigned  feelings  which  did  not  exist,  and  with  very 
treacherous  motives.  The  Empress  was  completely 
deceived,  and  was  convinced  that  he  was  absolutely 
devoted  to  her.  She  did  not  dislike  a  certain 
amount  of  flirtation,  keeping  at  a  sufficient  distance 
from  the  "Rubicon"  in  all  cases;  but  there  was 
a  little  too  much  playing  in  the  neighborhood,  per- 
haps unconsciously,  for  the  Empress  was  essentially 
a  spotless  wife,  as  she  had  been  a  spotless  bride,  not- 
withstanding the  calumny  which  assailed  her  at  the 
time  of  her  extraordinary  marriage. 

The  Due  de  Tascher  once  volunteered  to  say, 
when  he  was  relating  to  me  the  scene  which  had 
taken  place  between  the  Emperor,  his  father,  and 
himself,  on  the  announcement  of  the  former's  inten- 
tions :  "  As  to  the  Empress  herself,  my  absolute  con- 
viction on  my  word  of  honor  is  that  no  purer  bride 
ever  knelt  at  the  altar.  Our  objections  were  not 
directed  against  her  personally,  but  on  political 
grounds  ;  and  we  still  think  that  the  Emperor  made 
a  great  mistake  for  his  future  position  among  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe." 


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UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  193 

The  outbreak  of  the  cholera,  and  the  noble  conduct 
of  the  Empress,  showing  the  higher  side  of  her  com- 
plex character,  won  admiration  from  her  most  deter- 
mined adversaries,  so  that  there  was  a  reaction  in 
her  favor,  which  her  friends  hoped  might  be  durable. 

The  act  of  visiting  the  cholera  hospitals  was  per- 
formed with  a  degree  of  resolution  and  calm  cou- 
rage, which  few  women  in  such  a  position  could  have 
shown.  She  would  not  allow  her  ladies  to  follow 
her  in  the  hospital  wards,  but  went  herself  to  every 
one,  and,  though  unaccustomed  to  such  dreadful 
scenes  of  suffering,  she  showed  no  fear  of  contagion, 
taking  the  patients  by  the  hand,  and  encouraging 
all  by  kind  and  hopeful  words. 

At  Amiens  the  disease  and  deaths  had  reached 
frightful  proportions.  The  Empress  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  go  there,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  trying  to  en- 
courage the  population,  and  stimulate  the  officials. 
Here,  too,  she  went  to  all  the  beds,  and  spoke  to  all 
without  fearing  to  touch  their  hands,  or  to  bend 
over  them.  One  of  the  officials  who  accompanied 
her  opened  the  smallpox  ward  by  mistake,  but  she 
insisted  on  going  in  and  seeing  these  victims  of  a 
hideous  disease,  like  the  others.  Many  women 
would  fear  the  possible  destruction  of  their  beauty, 
and  permanent  disfigurement,  even  more  than  the 
risk  of  life,  but  this  wonderfully  beautiful  woman 
quietly  performed  her  adopted  mission  without  fear 
or  hesitation. 

The  effect  on  the  almost  despairing  population 

13 


194  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

was  excellent,  producing  a  sort  of  exhilaration,  which 
at  once  caused  a  decrease  of  the  epidemic.  The 
Empress  being  warmly  congratulated  by  the  Bishop 
on  her  devotedness  and  intrepidity,  answered  very 
happily  and  gracef ully,  in  words  often  quoted  since, 
"  Oh,  Monseigneur,  that  is  a  mere  trifle ;  it  is  only 
our  way  of  standing  fire"  {Oest  notre  maniere  d? oiler 
au  feu). 

The  nature  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  was  high  and 
noble ;  but  what  might  have  been  so  great  and  good 
had  been  imperfectly  developed,  and  remained  ill- 
regulated  under  the  management  of  a  very  worldly 
mother,  who  had  lived  separated  from  her  husband, 
who  became  a  widow  early,  and  who  seems  to  have 
had  very  vague  notions  of  what  was  desirable  for 
her  daughters.  The  latter  were  sent  from  school  to 
school,  never  remaining  long  in  any,  and,  when  in- 
troduced in  society,  they  went  from  one  place  to 
another,  in  a  continual  round  of  amusements,  riding 
about  at  watering-places,  and  indulging  in  a  style 
which  was  considered  —  what  in  modern  language  is 
termed  —  fast.  I  was  conversing  on  the  subject  with 
a  Spanish  grandee,  a  young  man  bearing  one  of  the 
greatest  historical  names  in  Spain. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  there  was  nothing  wrong,  abso- 
lutely, but  when,  for  instance,  Mademoiselle  de 
Montijo  showed  herself  in  public  with  the  bull- 
fighters [toreadors],  at  Madrid,  it  was  no  sin,  but 
surely  it  was  unsuitable  for  a  young  lady  of  high 
birth ;  for  she  is  really  a  descendant  of  the  Guzmans." 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  195 

An  impetuous  nature,  utter  innocence  of  inten- 
tion, and  no  guidance  —  such  is  the  explanation  of 
many  acts  which  were  so  mischievously  misinter- 
preted by  the  enemies  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  be- 
fore her  marriage.  The  habits  thus  acquired  ex- 
plain also  many  of  her  mistakes  when  raised  to  her 
supreme  position.  She  was  in  every  sense  of  the 
word  a  spoiled  child,  who  had  never  been  re- 
strained in  any  of  her  fancies  by  a  mother  who  was 
not  over-particular  or  judicious. 

The  Empress  had  a  large  private  fortune  of  her  own, 
but  this  had  been  inherited  from  an  uncle  who  was 
the  head  of  the  Montijo  family.  The  previous  years 
had  been  full  of  debt  and  difficulty  in  comparatively 
straitened  circumstances,  the  remembrance  of  which 
may  have  had  some  influence  on  the  want  of  gener- 
osity which  has  been  attributed  to  the  Empress  by 
those  around  her.  It  is  only  right  to  add  that  cour- 
tiers are  never  satisfied,  and  that  I  have  known 
many  instances  which  ought  to  acquit  her  of  such 
an  accusation.  But  she  had  not  the  princely  art  of 
giving  even  trifling  marks  of  remembrance  on  ap- 
propriate occasions,  with  graceful  words  of  acknow- 
ledgment. Opportunities  passed,  she  forgot  them, 
and  those  who  felt  neglected  were  offended. 

The  Empress  Augusta  of  Germany  was  celebrated 
for  the  manner  in  which  the  merest  trifles  were  made 
valuable  by  a  few  gracious  words.  A  ring  of  small 
value  drawn  from  her  finger,  a  photograph  with  a 
line  of  writing  and  her  signature  —  such  insignificant 


196  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

offerings  were  gratefully  accepted  and  preserved  as 
mementos,  because  the  time  was  well  chosen  and 
the  act  gracefully  performed. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  could  be  generous  on  im- 
portant occasions,  but  small  things  escaped  her 
notice. 

With  excellent  intentions,  but  without  accepting 
necessary  direction  from  those  more  experienced 
than  herself,  she  began  to  visit  hospitals,  even  with- 
out any  particular  motive  for  doing  so,  merely  as  an 
act  of  charity.  She  went  also  to  prisons  and  chari- 
table institutions,  taking  with  her  only  one  young 
lady  whom  she  now  had  admitted  into  her  house- 
hold under  the  name  of  "  reader,"  but  in  reality  for 
general  utility,  as  she  could  claim  her  services  at 
any  time  with  more  freedom  than  she  could  use 
with  her  ladies  in  waiting.  Mile.  Bouvet,  who  first 
filled  this  post,  performed  her  very  unremitting- 
duties  with  great  tact,  and  gained  the  favor  of  the 
Empress,  who  afterward,  with  her  habitual  love  of 
match-making,  made  up  a  marriage  with  a  wealthy 
agriculturist  named  Carette,1  and  appointed  the 
bride  to  a  vacant  post  of  lady  in  waiting.  Mile. 
Bouvet  was  remarkably  handsome,  and  in  the  same 
style  as  the  Empress  Eugenie,  though  with  infinitely 
less  delicacy  and  refinement  in  her  features  and  gen- 
eral appearance.     Still,  she  was  by  no  means  a  safe 

1Mme.  Carette  has  published  reminiscences  of  her  life  at  the  im- 
perial court ;  but  necessarily  circumstances  obliged  her  to  present 
a  picture  without  shade. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  197 

escort  for  the  Empress,  as  the  beauty  of  both  could 
not  but  attract  attention  everywhere.  They  went 
together  alone,  in  "Harun  al  Rashid"  style,  with 
only  a  carriage  as  a  concession  to  modern  require- 
ments, but  a  vehicle  prepared  for  such  occasions, 
with  a  coachman  and  a  groom  as  attendants  in  dark 
liveries,  and  no  indication  of  imperial  rank  any- 
where. With  Mile.  Bouvet  as  her  sole  protection, 
the  Empress  went  about,  visiting  poor  families  who 
had  been  pointed  out  to  her,  and  even  performing 
various  kind  offices  with  her  own  hands.  As  usual, 
the  intentions  were  excellent,  the  actions  ill-judged. 
Every  one  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  works 
of  charity  in  Paris  knows  the  immense  risk  attend- 
ing such  proceedings  for  women,  and  especially 
young  and  handsome  women.  The  "ladies  of 
charity"  (dames  de  charite)  belonging  to  different 
charitable  societies  go  only  to  such  houses  as  are 
guaranteed  to  be  safe  by  competent  authorities,  such 
as  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  the  parish  clergy,  or  the 
gentlemen  belonging  to  societies.  To  all  places  in- 
sufficiently known  they  go  either  with  Sisters,  or  at 
least  two  together,  one  being  of  mature  age.  There 
are  many  parts  of  Paris  where,  at  that  time  espe- 
cially, only  male  visitors  could  venture. 

The  ladies  who  visit  the  poor,  even  now,  are  al- 
ways careful  to  dress  in  the  most  ordinary-looking 
and  unfashionable  black  gowns.  The  imprudence  of 
two  very  beautiful  and  still  young  women,  in  the 
obtrusive  dress  of  the  period,  going  to  houses  in  the 


198  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEREES 

Belleville  of  that  time,  filled  with  the  most  disrepu- 
table people  in  Paris,  may  be  imagined.  The  Empress 
was  always  fearless  to  excess,  and,  leaving  her  car- 
riage at  a  distance,  without  protection  of  any  kind 
she  ran  all  risks  with  Mile.  Bouvet,  walking  through 
the  street  to  the  place  she  wished  to  visit.  On  one 
occasion  she  gained  some  experience  at  her  cost ;  for, 
interfering  in  too  imperial  fashion  with  some  boys 
who  were  quarreling,  the  mothers  took  part  in  the 
affray,  other  mothers  joined  them,  and  soon  the 
Empress  was  surrounded  by  a  mob  of  viragos,  in 
the  style  of  the  first  Revolution,  who  abused  her  in 
the  coarsest  language,  declaring  their  very  energetic 
determination  of  not  allowing  "  ladies  in  silk  dresses  " 
to  meddle  with  them.  The  Empress  soon  found  that 
her  sole  resource  was  to  get  back  to  her  carriage  as 
quickly  as  she  could. 

With  the  same  kind-hearted  inexperience,  the  Em- 
press greatly  annoyed  the  officials  at  the  head  of  the 
hospitals,  penitentiaries,  etc.,  by  listening  too  easily 
to  complaints,  promising  injudicious  favors,  and  with 
her  characteristic  vehemence  insisting  on  the  imme- 
diate execution  of  difficult  reforms. 

Every  one  who  has  ever  watched  the  working  of 
such  institutions  knows  what  caution  is  required, 
when  touching  the  machinery,  lest  more  harm  than 
good  should  result  from  the  disturbance  of  what  is 
established.  Penitentiaries  are  not  intended  to  be 
comfortable  boarding-houses,  where  everything  is 
made  pleasant  to  the  inmates.    All  the  governors, 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  199 

directors,  etc.,  were  exasperated  by  the  charitable  im- 
pulses of  the  Empress,  and  felt  strongly  inclined  to 
apply  the  homely  phrase  of  "  minding  one's  own 
business." 

One  of  her  impetuous  reforms  must,  however,  be 
wholly  approved,  notwithstanding  the  strong  op- 
position which  was  shown.  The  Emperor  having 
gone  to  Algeria,  the  Empress  was  regent  during 
his  absence,  a  measure  which  was  highly  unpopular. 
"  Why,"  was  generally  objected,  "  should  the  Em- 
peror be  obliged  to  appoint  a  regent  when,  legally, 
he  has  not  left  France  ?  With  modern  facilities  his 
orders  can  be  easily  transmitted."  Why  I  Because 
the  Empress  liked  to  be  regent. 

During  this  period  of  personal  power  she  went  to 
visit  the  penitentiary  for  young  offenders.  In  this 
establishment  five  hundred  boys  from  ten  to  eighteen 
years  of  age  were  kept  in  solitary  confinement.  The 
object  put  forward  was  the  prevention  of  criminal 
contagion;  but  for  young  children  often  arrested 
only  for  begging,  and  retained  because  they  had  no 
decent  home  to  go  to,  the  life  was  one  of  moral 
torture. 

The  Empress  was  painfully  impressed,  and  took  up 
the  matter  with  her  usual  warmth.  After  conquering 
considerable  opposition,  she  succeeded  in  having 
these  children  transferred  to  agricultural  peniten- 
tiaries, where  they  work  in  the  open  air,  and  together, 
under  supervision.  The  results  have  proved  very 
satisfactory. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Hints  in  the  papers  on  the  Emperor's  health  —  The  cost  of  a 
Crown  —  Visits  to  provincial  towns  —  Uncomfortable  luxury  — 
The  true  color  of  the  Empress's  hair — The  great  Exhibition 
—  Death  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  —  Death  of  the  Due  de 
Tascher  and  of  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano  —  The  Empress  goes 
to  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  —  Effect  on  the  Mohammedan 
population  —  The  Emperor  and  Prince  Imperial  at  Compiegne 
-My  visit  to  the  Tuileries  in  1870  —  Physical  condition  of  the 
Emperor  —  The  plebiscite  —  Testimony  of  Lord  Malmesbury  — 
I  leave  Paris  with  sad  forebodings  —  The  palace  of  the  Tuileries 
when  I  next  saw  it. 


A  BOUT  this  time  rumors  began  to  be  current  as  to 
±\.  the  total  failure  of  the  Emperor's  health.  Before 
I  left  the  Tuileries,  I  had  noticed  a  marked  change 
in  his  appearance,  and  this,  I  was  told,  had  greatly 
increased.  He  had  grown  stouter,  but  as  if  puffed ; 
he  looked  much  aged  and  careworn ;  and  as  he  walked 
there  was  evident  suffering,  ascribed  to  rheumatic 
lameness.  The  papers  hinted  that  he  was  seriously 
ill.  Alarmed  at  all  I  heard,  I  wrote  to  a  lady  belong- 
ing to  the  court,  with  whom  I  was  intimate,  asking 
what  was  the  truth.  She  immediately  replied,  plainly 
stating  the  nature  of  the  malady  (as  it  is  known  at 
present),  with  rheumatic  complications,  but  adding 
that  there  was  no  present  danger.1      She  made  no 

1  This  was  at  the  end  of  the  year  18G6. 
200 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  201 

secret  of  the  matter ;  so  that  I  have  been  much  sur- 
prised to  see  in  various  Bonapartist  publications  the 
positive  assertion  that  the  Empress  knew  "nothing" 
of  the  Emperor's  disease  till  after  the  fall  of  the  Em- 
pire. Sometimes  those  nearest  to  the  patient  are 
kept  in  ignorance :  still,  when  so  much  is  public,  the 
case  seems  strange. 

The  poor  Emperor  was  subjected  to  a  terrible  ne- 
cessity of  self-command  at  this  time.  Sovereigns 
cannot  have  a  headache  with  impunity ;  if  they  are 
reported  to  have  the  least  indisposition,  stocks  fall,  a 
financial  commotion  occurs,  and  fortunes  are  lost  in 
a  day.  After  the  most  intense  suffering,  the  Empe- 
ror appeared  at  balls  and  theaters  to  pacify  the  pub- 
lic. His  rheumatic  pains  alone  were  so  violent  that 
he  was  known  to  hold  his  arm  to  the  flame  of  a 
candle  before  going  into  the  ball-room,  that  a  change 
of  pain  might  bring  a  sort  of  relief !  His  prison  at 
Ham  was  damp  and  surrounded  by  a  moat ;  he  had 
always  suffered  from  acute  rheumatism  since  then. 
But  it  is  well  known  what  a  fearful  disease  was  added 
to  this,  in  his  latter  years.  Those  who,  for  a  mere 
chill,  can  go  to  bed  comfortably,  and  ask  for  sooth- 
ing drinks,  closing  their  door  to  all  intruders,  may 
understand  the  suffering  of  being  obliged  to  appear 
in  public,  bearing  agonies  of  pain,  with  a  smile  and 
a  gracious  word  ready  for  the  importunate,  conceal- 
ing physical  torture  as  if  it  were  a  sin  !  Poor  poten- 
tate !     Is  a  crown  worth  what  it  costs  ? 

The  Emperor  visited  several  French  towns  accom- 


202  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

panied  by  the  Empress,  participating  in  all  festivities 
prepared  for  his  reception,  without  betraying  any 
sign  of  suffering.  These  visits  to  provincial  towns 
were  always  a  source  of  anxiety  to  the  wives  of  the 
prefects,  who,  supposing  that  royal  people  could  do 
nothing  like  others,  racked  their  brains  to  discover 
what  would  be  sufficiently  worthy  of  being  presented 
to  them.  One  of  these  ladies  related  in  my  presence 
that  in  her  anxiety  to  arrange  everything  as  magnifi- 
cently as  possible,  she  had  prepared  the  bed  for  the 
Empress  with  richly  embroidered  sheets.  To  her  sur- 
prise, the  Empress  could  not  sleep,  because  the  em- 
broidery fretted  her  peculiarly  fine  and  delicate  skin  ; 
so  the  mistress  of  the  house  was  called  up  in  the 
night,  with  a  request  for  plain  sheets  ! 

The  Empress  was  extremely  simple  in  her  home 
habits,  yet  the  most  ridiculous  stories  were  spread 
with  regard  to  her  supposed  luxury.  I  was  told 
gravely,  as  an  undeniable  fact,  that  from  one  to  two 
hundred  francs'  worth  of  gold  dust  was  used  daily 
to  give  the  golden  radiance  to  her  hair ! 

It  so  happened  that  the  Due  de  Tascher  having 
asked  me  to  tie  a  lock  of  hair  given  to  him  by  the 
Empress,  I  had  held  the  hair  in  my  fingers,  and  had 
been  able  to  examine  it  closely.  It  was  beautifully 
soft  and  fine,  and  seemed  made  up  of  minute  threads 
apparently  of  reddish  gold,  mingled  with  others 
equally  fine,  of  a  darker  color.  I  could  therefore  be 
certain  that  no  artifice  was  employed;  but  any  im- 
partial observer  could  have  discerned  the  totally  dif- 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  203 

ferent  hue  from  that  produced  by  hair-dresser's  fluids 
or  powders.  It  was  the  Venetian  auburn  of  Titian's 
pictures,  with  the  wonderful  complexion  usually  ac- 
companying that  rare  shade.  The  face  seemed  sculp- 
tured in  alabaster,  the  features  so  delicate  as  to  be 
almost  transparent. 

It  was  beauty  so  perfect  that  to  be  appreciated 
fully  a  first  glance  was  not  sufficient.  The  more  the 
whole  form  of  the  Empress  was  examined,  the  more 
the  observer  felt  that  it  could  not  be  surpassed,  and 
was  rarely  equaled.  There  were  peculiarities,  but 
no  defects. 

Notwithstanding  some  threatening  whispers,  the 
apparent  prosperity  of  the  Empire  continued  to  in- 
crease without  interruption  till  the  year  of  the  Great 
Exhibition  of  1867,  when  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe 
came  to  Paris  to  be  the  guests  of  Napoleon  III.,  as 
their  fathers  had  done  during  1811,  in  the  reign  of 
the  founder  of  the  dynasty.  But,  as  in  1811,  this 
culminating  point  of  prosperity  was  not  to  be 
reached  with  impunity.  There  was  nothing  beyond, 
and  the  terrible  downfall  was  at  hand. 

The  first  note  of  the  knell  was  rung  by  the  death 
of  Maximilian,  the  news  of  which  reached  the  Em- 
peror on  the  very  day  when,  in  all  his  glory,  he 
distributed  the  prizes  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  He 
was  deeply  affected,  but  the  fact  was  concealed  till 
the  ceremony  was  over,  when  all  festivities  were 
stopped. 

It  was  an  ominous  ending  to  such  rejoicings. 


204  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

The  death  of  the  young  Comtesse  de  l'Espine  (Hor- 
tense  de  Tascher)  had  occurred  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  a  fortnight  after  the  birth  of  her  daughter, 
and  had  destroyed  on  my  part  any  wish  even  to 
look  at  scenes  of  gaiety  or  pleasure.  The  Due  de 
Tascher  soon  followed  her  by  a  most  sudden  aud 
startling  catastrophe,  immediately  after  giving  or- 
ders to  his  valet  with  regard  to  preparations  for  a 
state  ball  in  the  evening,  where  he  was  to  attend  the 
Empress.  I  was  not  in  Paris  at  the  time,  and  was 
deeply  shocked  and  grieved,  for  I  had  always  found 
in  him  a  kind  friend. 

The  Duchesse  de  Bassano  was  taken,  also,  in  that 
fatal  year  following  the  Exhibition,  after  a  few  hours 
of  illness.  She  was  an  immense  loss,  not  only  to 
her  broken-hearted  husband  and  children,  but  to  the 
Empress,  to  whom  she  was  a  devoted  friend  who 
would  have  followed  her  anywhere,  for  "weal  or 
woe,"  according  to  the  traditions  so  faithfully  re- 
tained by  all  the  family  de  Bassano. 

I  was  deeply  attached  to  the  Duchesse  de  Bassano, 
— the  best  of  friends  and  the  most  excellent  of  wo- 
men,— withal  the  grande  dame,  from  head  to  foot, 
blending  the  most  perfect  dignity  with  the  most  at- 
tractive simplicity  and  natural  grace  of  manner.  I 
often  thought,  when  I  saw  her  in  full  dress,  that 
she  would  make  an  ideal  empress  or  queen ;  but  at 
all  times,  at  all  hours,  in  her  own  home  or  in  her 
court  functions,  there  was  something  that  rendered 
familiarity  impossible  even  to  the  most  ill-bred,  and 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  205 

at  the  same  time  a  gentle  sweetness  which  attracted 
and  gave  confidence  to  the  most  timid.  It  was  per- 
fect high  breeding  with  perfect  kindness. 

The  sudden  death  of  Comte  Walewski,  which  soon 
followed,  was  a  great  blow  to  the  Emperor.  One  by 
one  his  most  valued  friends  and  counselors  were 
taken  from  him  at  the  time  when  he  most  required 
their  aid,  for  his  health  was  evidently  failing  more 
and  more,  notwithstanding  official  denials. 

In  1869  the  inauguration  of  the  Suez  Canal  seemed 
to  call  for  the  presence  of  the  Emperor,  who  had 
patronized  the  work  from  the  first,  as  a  national 
undertaking,  and  by  a  timely  grant  of  money  had 
saved  it  from  the  fate  which  awaited  Panama  after 
his  death.  He  felt,  however,  that  he  could  not  risk 
the  journey,  but  yielded  to  the  ardent  wish  of  the 
Empress  by  sending  her  as  his  representative.  All 
those  competent  to  judge  the  question  considered  that 
this  concession  was  an  immense  mistake  in  a  Mo- 
hammedan country,  where  no  one  could  understand 
that  a  woman  should  act  as  a  representative  of  her 
husband,  and  go  about  publicly  as  such,  when,  ac- 
cording to  the  feelings  of  the  natives,  the  mere  act 
of  appearing  without  a  veil  is  positively  immodest. 

As  usual,  the  Empress  would  listen  to  no  advice, 
and  leaving  without  hesitation  her  husband  and  son, 
she  went  off,  in  state,  on  her  adventurous  expedition, 
at  great  cost,  and  with  general  disapprobation.  When 
she  reached  Constantinople,  she  went  at  first  to  the 
French  Embassy,  which  was  her  proper  home ;  but 


206  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

she  did  not  like  Pera,  where  the  surroundings 
were  not  sufficiently  Oriental  to  satisfy  her  fancy 
and  her  curiosity.  Consequently,  she  took  the  ex- 
traordinary decision  of  accepting  an  offer  of  hospi- 
tality from  the  Sultan,  and  residing  at  his  palace. 

A  gentleman  who  was  at  Constantinople  during 
the  visit  of  the  Empress  told  me  that  the  consterna- 
tion of  all  the  Europeans  was  indescribable,  and  the 
lamentable  effect  on  the  Orientals  likewise,  who  at- 
tributed to  the  worst  possible  motives  an  act  which 
simply  sprang  from  curiosity,  but  which,  in  their 
eyes,  outraged  all  propriety.  That  any  woman  who 
did  not  belong  to  the  seraglio  should  voluntarily 
live  under  the  same  roof  as  the  Sultan,  was  inadmis- 
sible in  their  sight ;  even  the  seraglio  is  kept  apart, 
and  is  not  on  the  easy  terms  which  were  estab- 
lished for  the  Empress,  in  defiance  of  all  Oriental 
custom.  But  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  imprudent 
acts,  there  was  complete  innocence  of  intention,  and 
nothing  more  worthy  of  blame  than  thoughtless 
levity.  In  the  last  years  of  the  Empire,  the  moral 
intoxication  of  all  the  women  of  fashion,  begun  by 
the  Princess  Metternich,  was  daily  increasing ;  each 
one  daring  more  than  the  others,  till  all  conventional 
rules  of  propriety  were  despised  and  trodden  under 
foot.  The  Empress  was  not  exempt  from  this  fatal 
influence  —  the  atmosphere  she  breathed  was  bad. 
"The  style  of  the  women  around  her  is  vile,"  says 
Lord  Malmesbury  in  his  memoirs ;  thus  giving  the 
imj)ression  of  a  friendly  Englishman,  who  fully  ap- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  207 

predated  all  that  was  charming  and  really  good  in 
the  Empress,  but  deplored  certain  drawbacks. 

While  the  sovereign  lady  was  thus  enjoying  her 
fanciful  journey,  and  startling  the  propriety  of  Turks 
and  Egyptians,  the  Emperor,  fearing  dullness  for  his 
young  son  in  the  empty  Compiegne,  invited  a  few  inti- 
mates, and  with  his  usual  self-control  and  unselfish- 
ness showed  such  cheerfulness,  and  took  so  much 
trouble  to  amuse  his  guests  and  the  young  Prince,  that 
he  seemed  indefatigable,  leading  the  games  himself 
and  tiring  everybody  before  showing  any  symptoms 
of  personal  fatigue.  Every  one  was  satisfied  that 
nothing  serious  could  ail  him;  and  yet  the  truth  is 
now  too  well  known  as  to  the  deadly  disease,  which 
was  even  then  so  terribly  developed.  Surgeons  had 
already  urged  the  necessity  of  an  operation,  but  he 
had  a  nervous  dread  of  such  means  of  cure,  and  had 
concealed  the  fact  from  the  Empress,  knowing  that, 
with  her  characteristic  determined  spirit,  she  would 
have  insisted  on  the  operation  being  performed  and 
would  not  easily  have  been  silenced. 

The  Emperor  had  unexpectedly  granted  liberal  re- 
forms, for  which  the  French  nation  was  perhaps  not 
sufficiently  prepared ;  he  probably  felt  that  his  hand 
was  no  longer  able  to  hold  the  reins. 

I  came  to  Paris  early  in  the  spring  of  the  fatal 
year  1870:  but  accompanying  a  friend,  with  whom 
I  was  staying.  I  therefore  did  not  live  at  the  Tui- 
leries  on  this  occasion,  but  went  there  immediately 
after  my  arrival.    I  was,  as  usual,  warmly  received ; 


208  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEKIES 

but,  after  some  conversation,  one  of  the  ladies  of 
the  family  said  to  me:  "We  are  very  anxious  on 
the  Emperor's  account.  He  is  certainly  very  ill, 
and  has  fallen  into  a  state  of  apathy  and  torpor 
which  is  most  unnatural.  He  seems  indifferent  to 
everything.  Just  like  Charles,"  she  added,  in  a  low 
voice,  alluding  to  the  late  Duke,  who,  for  some  time 
before  his  death,  seemed  in  the  same  dreamy  state 
as  that  attributed  to  the  Emperor.  I  had  watched 
this  symptom  in  the  case  of  the  Duke  with  con- 
siderable alarm ;  but  the  family  did  not  see  its 
importance.  The  servants  had  given  me  some 
particulars  of  his  health,  which  seemed  to  point  to 
disease  not  identical  with  that  of  the  Emperor, 
but  of  the  same  nature,  and  producing  the  same 
unnatural  depression. 

On  one  occasion  when  the  court  circle  was  play- 
ing at  the  "  society"  game  which  asks  questions  as  to 
tastes,  habits,  preferences,  etc.,  in  answer  to  an  in- 
quiry as  to  his  favorite  occupation,  the  Emperor 
wrote:  "Chercher  la  solution  de  problemes  insolu- 
bles"  (Seeking  the  solution  of  insoluble  problems). 
The  problems  were  more  insoluble  than  ever,  and 
the  Emperor  had  no  longer  the  strength  to  seek  a 
solution.  In  his  evident  anxiety  as  to  what  was 
coming,  he  provoked  an  appeal  to  the  nation  —  a 
plebiscite  —  to  confirm  the  liberalized  constitution 
granted  by  the  Emperor,  which  was  approved  by 
above  7,000,000  votes. 

I  remember  the   excitement  and  enthusiasm  in 


a 
> 

r- 

r- 
m 


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> 
n 


z 

v. 

o 


T. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  209 

Paris  when  the  result  was  known.  Eveiy  one  would 
have  supposed  that  the  future  of  the  Empire  was  se- 
cured indefinitely. 

Lord  Malmesbuiy  mentions  that  he  came  to  Paris 
at  this  time ;  and,  speaking  of  the  Emperor,  he  says : 

"I  found  him  much  altered  in  appearance,  and 
looking  very  ill,  it  being  three  years  since  I  had 
seen  him.  .  .  .  He  observed  later  that  Europe  ap- 
peared to  be  tranquil ;  and  it  was  evident  to  me  that 
at  that  moment  he  had  no  idea  of  the  coming  hurri- 
cane which  suddenly  broke  out  in  the  first  week 
of  the  following  July.  ...  I  feel  sure  that  not  a 
thought  of  the  impending  idea  of  a  Hohenzollern 
being  a  candidate  for  the  Spanish  throne  had  crossed 
his  mind.  Count  Bismarck  had  kept  it  a  profound 
secret,  and  that  very  deep  secrecy  and  sudden  sur- 
prise is  the  strongest  proof  of  his  intention  to  force 
a  quarrel  upon  France.  .  .  .  The  result  of  my  visit 
and  conversation  with  the  Emperor  was  one  of  ex- 
treme pain,  for  I  saw  that  he  was  no  longer  the  same 
man  of  sanguine  energy  and  self-reliance,  and  had 
grown  prematurely  old  and  broken." 

This  account  by  Lord  Malmesbuiy,  who,  as  a  very 
old  friend  of  the  Emperor  from  almost  boyish  days, 
was  particularly  interested  in  all  concerning  him, 
absolutely  confirms  all  that  I  heard  myself  during 
my  stay  in  Paris. 

At  the  Tuileries,  in  the  apartments  of  the  de  Tas- 
cher  family,  all  was  sad  in  consequence  of  the 
Duke's  death,  which  had  occurred  in  the  preceding 


210  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

year.  The  Emperor  had  desired  the  ladies  to  retain 
the  apartments  until  the  death  of  the  (Princess) 
Countess,  whom  he  wished  to  leave  undisturbed; 
but  every  one  felt  that  the  fatal  time  was  not  far  dis- 
tant. I  found  her  much  broken ;  and  at  over  eighty 
years  of  age  everything  was  to  be  feared.  She  re- 
ceived me  most  affectionately,  repeating  how  much 
she  missed  me,  and  that  she  could  not  get  accus- 
tomed to  my  absence,  adding  earnestly :  "  Come  and 
drive  with  me  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  as  we  used 
to  do."  I  went  with  her,  feeling  painfully  that  it 
would  be  the  last  time.1 

My  old  friend  Robert  was  now  filling  his  father's 
place  and  enjoying  his  honors.  This,  too,  seemed 
strange  and  painful,  though  it  was  impossible  to  be 
more  heartily  friendly  than  he  showed  himself  on 
that  occasion,  as  on  all  others. 

I  left  the  palace  with  sorrowful  forebodings  —  a 
sort  of  threatening  cloud  seemed  to  hang  over  it, 
nay,  over  Paris  itself.  As  I  saw  Paris  recede  in  the 
distance  on  the  day  of  my  departure,  I  thought  of 
the  doomed  cities  in  Scripture,  and  my  impression 
was  so  deep  that  I  even  expressed  my  fears  in  a 
letter  to  a  relative  in  America,  who  was  greatly 
struck  when  events  so  terribly  justified  what  then 
seemed  to  be  almost  prophetic  views. 

The  next  time  that  I  stood  before  the  palace  of  the 
Tuileries,  it  was  in  ruins !    I  could  still  discover  the 

1  She  died  at  the  chateau  of  one  of  her  daughters,  in  Alsace,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  which  was  concealed  from  her. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  211 

remains  of  my  old  apartments,  which  I  longed  to 
visit,  but  was  told  that  the  danger  would  be  too 
great.  I  could  discern  what  was  left  of  the  "  Salle  des 
Marechaux,"  where  I  had  witnessed  such  splendid 
scenes  of  festivity.  I  could  still  see  the  place  where 
had  been  my  habitual  seat  in  that  chapel  where  my 
loved  Hortense  had  been  married,  in  the  presence  of 
Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  ! 

The  Archbishop  of  Paris,  who  then  officiated,  had 
been  foully  murdered ;  the  fair  young  bride  was  in 
her  grave ;  the  Duke,  her  father,  who  had  led  her  to 
the  altar,  was  no  more ;  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
were  exiles ;  and  the  very  chapel  where  she  had  knelt, 
with  her  bridal  veil  and  wreath  of  orange  blossoms, 
was  in  ruins ! 

Who  would  wonder  at  the  tears  which  I  could  not 
repress  ? 


CHAPTER  XX 

Apathy  of  the  Emperor  —  The  party  of  the  Empress  —  A  con- 
sultation of  medical  and  surgical  authorities  on  the  Emperor's 
health  —  An  operation  declared  necessary  —  The  Hohenzollern 
incident  —  The  Emperor  unwilling'  for  war  —  The  scene  at  St. 
Cloud  related  to  Lord  Malmesbury  by  the  Due  de  Gramont  — 
The  Emperor  yields  —  His  sad  forebodings  —  The  Empress  ap- 
pointed Regent  —  The  Prince  Imperial  goes  with  his  father  to 
join  the  army —  The  "  baptism  of  fire  "  —  First  reverses  —  The 
Empress  returns  to  Paris  —  The  Emperor's  health  gives  way  — 
He  is  urged  to  return  to  Paris  —  Opposition  of  the  Empress 
—  The  Emperor  sends  the  Prince  Imperial  to  Belgium  —  The 
Emperor  goes  to  Sedan  against  his  will  —  The  Prince  Imperial 
receives  orders  to  go  over  to  England,  where  he  meets  his 
mother  at  Hastings. 


THE  torpor  of  the  Emperor  exasperated  the  Em- 
press, who  did  not  understand  its  cause,  and  she 
strove  with  passionate  expostulations  to  rouse  him  to 
his  former  vigor  of  purpose.  His  mind  and  intellect 
had  not  failed,  but  his  physical  energies  had  given 
way  so  completely  that  the  former  seemed  dormant. 
There  was  now  a  political  party  calling  itself  "le 
parti  de  l'Imperatrice "  (the  party  of  the  Empress), 
and  the  ministers,  with  other  politicians,  perpetually 
held  consultations  with  her,  talking  her  over  to  their 
views,  which  she  then  enforced  in  vehement  scenes 
with  the  exhausted,  weary  Emperor. 

212 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIEE  213 

Lord  Mahnesbury  says  again : 

"My  impression  as  to  his  having  given  a  consti- 
tutional government  to  France  was  that  it  was  more 
the  result  of  bodily  suffering  and  exhaustion  from 
a  deadly  disease  than  from  any  moral  conviction, 
and  that  he  felt,  as  he  must  have  done,  that  the  life 
left  him  was  short,  and  that  his  son  would  have  a 
better  chance  of  quietly  inheriting  the  throne  under 
a  parliamentary  and  irresponsible  regime.  Perhaps 
he  was  right,  if  he  had  found  able  ministers ;  but 
that  was  not  the  case,  and  their  mismanagement  at 
the  provocations  of  Prussia  under  Bismarck  must 
always  be  cited  as  the  most  incapable  diplomacy 
on  record." 

Shortly  before  these  fatal  incidents,  rumors  con- 
cerning the  Emperor's  health  became  so  alarming 
that  the  Duchesse  de  Mouchy  (Princess  Anna  Murat) 
urged  the  Empress  to  have  a  consultation  with  sev- 
eral celebrated  surgical  and  medical  authorities,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  famous  Dr.  Germain  See.  The 
statement  of  the  case  was  duly  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
See,  declaring  the  now  well-known  nature  of  the 
malady,  and  the  urgent  necessity  of  an  operation. 
The  friends  of  the  Empress  assert  positively  that 
the  truth  was  concealed  from  her,  and  that  she  re- 
mained ignorant  of  the  true  state  of  the  Emperor. 

Immediately  after  this  consultation,  the  Hohenzol- 
lern  incident  occurred  suddenly.  It  was  of  a  nature 
to  excite  passionate  feelings  in  the  Empress,  for  it 
concerned  Spain,  giving  the  crown  of  Spain  to  a 

14* 


214  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

German  prince.  Now  (since  the  war  which  followed 
has  caused  snch  calamities)  the  partizans  of  the  Em- 
press deny  strenuously  that  she  was  in  favor  of  risk- 
ing it,  or  that  she  ever  used  the  words  so  often 
quoted :  "  This  is  my  war."  It  is,  however,  certain 
on  the  best  authority  that  she  considered  any  con- 
cession on  the  French  side  to  be  disgraceful,  and 
that  she  took  up  the  question  with  her  usual  pas- 
sionate vehemence  and  direct  interference.  We 
must  again  quote  Lord  Malmesbury : 

"The  Duke  himself  [de  Gramont1]  gave  me  the 
following  account  of  the  last  scene  on  July  14,  be- 
fore the  declaration  of  war. 

"  The  Hohenzollern  candidateship  to  the  throne  of 
Spain  was  abandoned,  and  the  Emperor  was  decidedly 
disposed  to  accept  this  renouncement  and  to  patch  up 
the  quarrel  and  turn  this  result  into  a  diplomatic 
success,  but  his  ministers  had  avoided  no  oppor- 
tunity of  publishing  the  insult 2  to  all  France,  and 
the  press  stirred  the  anger  and  vanity  of  the  public 
to  a  pitch  of  madness.  None  had  yet  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  characteristic  temper  of  the  Emperor. 
Before  the  final  resolve  to  declare  war,  the  Emperor, 
Empress,  and  ministers  went  to  St.  Cloud.  After 
some  discussion,  Gramont  told  me,  the  Empress, 
a  high-spirited  and  impressionable  woman,  made  a 
strong  and  most  excited  address,  declaring  that  war 

1  Then  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

2  The  telegram,  now  acknowledged  to  be  false  by  Prince  Bismarck, 
which  was  sent  by  him  over  Europe,  and  which  represented  that  the 
King  of  Prussia  had  refused  to  receive  the  French  ambassador. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  215 

'was  inevitable  if  the  honor  of  France  was  to  be 
sustained.'  She  was  immediately  followed  by  Mar- 
shal Leboeuf,  who  in  the  most  violent  tone  threw 
down  his  portfolio  and  swore  that  if  war  was  not 
declared  he  would  give  it  up  and  renounce  his  mili- 
tary rank.  The  Emperor  gave  way,  and  Gramont 
went  straight  to  the  Chamber  to  announce  the  fatal 
news." 

This  narrative  was  confirmed  by  another,  given  to 
me  personally  on  good  authority.  The  latter  states 
that  the  Emperor  positively  refused  to  sign  the 
declaration  of  war,  and  left  the  room,  after  the  scene 
with  the  Empress  and  Marshal  Leboeuf.  The  former 
showed  great  anger,  and  seizing  the  arm  of  one  of 
the  ministers,  she  exclaimed  against  the  apathy  of 
the  Emperor,  adding:  "We  will  make  him  do  it!" 
She  followed  the  weary  Emperor,  who  finally  yielded 
to  her  pressing  insistence. 

The  Empress  no  doubt  attributed  the  Emperor's 
opposition  to  the  physical  languor  and  unwillingness 
for  exertion  which  had  characterized  his  conduct  for 
some  time,  and  thought  it  necessary  to  use  energetic 
means  to  rouse  him  from  his  torpor.  But  the  re- 
sponsibility was  an  awful  one  in  the  case  of  a 
woman  not  called  by  duty  to  take  such  a  decision  as 
a  reigning  sovereign. 

When  war  was  declared,  and  she  saw  how  gravely 
and  sadly  the  Emperor  looked  toward  the  future, 
she  was  herself  frightened  at  the  sight  of  the  demon 
which  she  had  raised,  and  would  gladly  have  wel- 


216  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

corned  any  peaceful  intervention — but  it  was  too 
late.  The  Emperor  went  to  the  war  with  the  worst 
forebodings,  and  with  the  despairing  resignation  of 
a  doomed  victim.  Let  those  who  accuse  him  of  hav- 
ing rashly  and  presumptuously  undertaken  the  task 
under  which  he  fell  read  the  sad  proclamation  at  the 
beginning  of  the  campaign,  and  compare  it  with  the 
spirited  resolution  which  announced  the  Italian  war 
— that  war  which  was  a  triumphant  march  through 
Lombardy,  crowned  by  the  glorious  victory  of  Sol- 
ferino.  What  a  departure  from  the  Tuileries  was 
that,  and  what  a  return !  Alas !  that  magnificent 
success  had  taught  the  French  nation  to  believe  it- 
self invincible,  and  led  to  the  fatal  delusion  of  1870 
— a  delusion  which,  however,  was  not  shared  by  the 
Emperor,  who  seemed  to  feel  that  his  day  was  come. 

His  own  departure  for  the  army  was  caused  by 
characteristic  sentimental  motives  of  "  sharing  the 
fate  of  his  soldiers  " ;  but  in  his  physical  state  it  was 
an  act  of  folly.  For  a  considerable  time  he  had  been 
unable  to  ride  a  horse  without  intense  suffering ;  he 
was  utterly  incapable  physically  of  acting  as  com- 
mander-in-chief ;  and  his  presence  prevented  any  of 
the  marshals  from  being  appointed  to  that  supreme 
command. 

His  resolution  of  taking  with  him  the  Prince  Im- 
perial, then  only  fourteen  years  of  age,  was  much 
blamed,  notwithstanding  the  sonorous  terms  in  which 
it  was  announced.  Every  one  expressed  the  sensible 
view  of  the  matter,  viz.,  that  the  place  of  a  school-boy 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  217 

was  in  the  school-rooni,  and  not  with  an  army  in 
active  service,  which  would  entail  fatigue  and  risk 
beyond  the  physical  powers  of  his  age. 

But  the  real  truth  was  concealed.  It  was  consid- 
ered safer  for  the  boy  to  be  with  his  father  in  the 
French  army  than  to  be  exposed  to  the  risk  of  being 
seized,  perhaps,  as  a  hostage  by  a  revolutionary  mob, 
should  there  be  riots  in  Paris. 

When  the  Empress  was  first  appointed  Regent 
during  the  Italian  war,  the  Emperor  was  blamed  for 
giving  the  government  of  France  "  into  the  hands 
of  a  mere  woman  of  fashion."  But  if  he  had  not 
yielded  to  the  ardent  wish  of  the  Empress,  he  would 
have  had  no  one  whom  he  could  appoint  to  the  office 
but  Prince  Napoleon,  who  was  universally  unpopular, 
and  who  had,  besides,  a  sort  of  Richard  the  Third 
flavor  about  him,  which  caused  the  most  vehement 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Empress  and  of  many 
among  the  Emperor's  most  trusted  advisers.  In  1870 
the  mistake,  now  universally  acknowledged,  lay  in  go- 
ing with  the  army  instead  of  appointing  a  responsible 
commander-in-chief.  Unfortunately,  the  Empress 
was  blind  as  to  his  present  condition,  and  with  her 
high  and  romantic  feelings  she  considered  that  he 
ought  to  lead  his  army,  refusing  to  see  any  impedi- 
ments. Consequently  she  was  naturally  appointed 
Regent,  as  before. 

The  Emperor  did  not  join  the  army  from  Paris, 
or  leave  officially,  as  he  had  done  in  1859  for  the 
Italian  war.     He  evidently  dreaded  the  fatigue  of 


218  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

popular  demonstrations,  which  was  in  itself  a  proof 
of  his  weakened  state,  and  started  from  St.  Cloud, 
reaching  the  army  by  cross  railway  lines.  The 
poor  little  Prince,  delighted  with  his  uniform  as 
sub-lieutenant,  and  his  sword,  which  he  proudly 
grasped  tight,  was  yet  struggling  to  keep  back 
natural  childish  tears  as  he  looked  up  into  his 
mother's  face  and  held  her  hand.  She  preserved 
perfect  self-command  as  she  embraced  her  husband 
and  son;  and  when  the  train  moved  off  she  called 
to  the  boy :  "  Louis,  do  your  duty ! " 

What  the  military  duty  of  such  a  child  could  be 
is  not  easily  comprehensible,  and  most  people  would 
have  liked  her  better  if,  instead  of  heroic  speeches, 
she  had  shown  more  natural  tenderness.  When  the 
train  had  disappeared  round  the  curve  of  the  line, 
and  she  had  seen  the  last  look,  the  last  wave  of 
the  hand,  from  both  husband  and  son, — then  only, — 
she  wept. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  was  too  fond  of  being 
sublime. 

The  first  telegram  from  the  Emperor,  after  the 
first  successful  skirmish  of  Saarbriick,  "Louis  has 
had  the  baptism  of  fire?  was  much  ridiculed  by  those 
who  did  not  know  that  the  expression  is  habitually 
used  in  French,  meaning  that  a  soldier  has  stood 
fire  well  for  the  first  time.  The  poor  boy  had  not 
flinched,  though  the  shot  fell  around  him.  He  had 
"  done  his  duty,"  and  was  laughed  at,  which  stung 
the  Empress  to  the  quick. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  219 

I  was  at  Granville,  a  small  seaport  in  Normandy, 
with  a  friend,  when  the  war  broke  out. 

Who  can  forget  that  war? — the  bewildering  suc- 
cession of  defeats — the  astonishment  and  fury  of 
the  French  nation  as  each  telegram  came! 

I  remember  that  rumors  having  reached  me  of  a 
great  catastrophe  (the  defeat  of  Worth  or  Eeichs- 
hofen),  I  went  out  to  see  the  telegram  pasted 
upon  the  walls  in  the  little  town.  A  crowd  of 
fishermen  and  their  wives  were  gathered  round  it, 
evidently  trying  in  vain  to  decipher  the  appalling 
news.  I  drew  near.  An  old  fishwife  then  said  to 
me:  "Madame,  you  who  can  read — will  you  not 
read  it  to  us?" 

Of  course  I  immediately  acquiesced,  and  raising 
my  voice  I  read  the  fatal  telegram  relating  the 
defeat  of  the  French  army,  but  concluding  with 
words  of  hope.  The  consternation  of  those  around 
me  seemed  to  accept  no  comfort;  they  looked  at 
each  other  in  blank  despair. 

As  I  moved  away,  I  remembered  with  increasing 
anxiety  what  the  old  Comte  de  Tascher  had  said 
to  me  in  the  beginning  of  the  Italian  war :  "  Every- 
thing depends  on  the  success  of  the  first  battle.  If 
our  troops  are  victorious,  the  campaign  will  be  tri- 
umphant ;  but  the  French  cannot  bear  defeat." 

Alas !  the  war  of  1870  began  with  a  defeat,  and 
the  old  General's  words  were  verified. 

The  unfortunate  Empress  then  left  St.  Cloud  for 
the  Tuileries,  where  she  established  a  field  hospital, 


220  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILEEIES 

and  there  she  received  day  by  day  the  war  bulletins, 
which  became  more  and  more  alarming. 

The  Emperor's  health  had  given  way  completely 
in  the  very  beginning  of  the  war.  The  fatigue, 
the  absence  of  medical  care,  had  increased  his  suf- 
ferings to  an  unendurable  degree,  and  he  had  been 
obliged  to  hand  over  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Chalons  to  Marshal  MacMahon,  who,  after  the  dis- 
asters, very  nobly  declared  that  he  was  alone  respon- 
sible, and  that  he  had  acted  against  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  Emperor,  who  no  longer  commanded 
the  army.  The  presence  of  the  Emperor  was  not  only 
of  no  possible  use,  but  was,  in  fact,  an  impediment 
to  due  rapidity  of  movement,  etc. ;  and  all  the  mar- 
shals, generals,  and  superior  officers  were  of  opinion 
that  he  ought  to  return  to  Paris,  taking  with  him 
a  sufficient  portion  of  the  army  to  cover  Paris,  and 
thus,  protected  by  the  forts  which  surround  the  for- 
tifications, render  the  advance  of  the  Germans  too 
perilous  to  be  attempted.  Prince  Napoleon  was 
energetically  in  favor  of  this  plan,  and  especially 
of  the  Emperor's  return;  the  latter  himself  agreed 
that  his  proper  place  was  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment in  Paris  itself. 

But  the  Empress  vehemently  opposed  his  return, 
declaring  that  a  revolution  would  break  out  if  the 
Emperor  appeared  in  Paris  after  defeat;  that  he 
would  be  accused  of  personal  cowardice,  with  a  sel- 
fish wish  to  concentrate  the  troops  round  his  own 
person  for  the  interests  of  the  dynasty.     The  best 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  221 

proof  of  the  weakened  state  of  the  unhappy  Emperor 
is  shown  by  the  mere  fact  of  his  taking  her  will  to 
account,  instead  of  appearing  in  Paris  without  even 
consulting  her,  as  he  would  have  done  a  few  years 
before  that  time. 

Who  was  right,  who  was  wrong,  in  such  appre- 
ciations f 

Opinions  are  divided ;  but  the  most  reliable  and 
authorized  blame  the  Empress  for  taking  such  a  re- 
sponsibility against  the  opinions  of  the  generals 
who,  being  on  the  spot,  were  certainly  better  able  to 
judge  what  ought  to  be  done  than  she  could,  at  the 
Tuileries,  with  her  advisers.  Trochu  was  sent  to 
Paris  with  the  mission  to  the'  Empress,  of  explain- 
ing how  matters  stood,  and  to  urge  the  necessity  of 
the  Emperor's  return ;  but  she  would  listen  to  no 
argument,  and  the  unfortunate  Emperor  remained 
with  the  army,  a  mere  burden,  repulsed  on  all  sides; 
while  the  Empress,  without  even  consulting  him, 
governed  Paris,  summoning  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly without  his  authorization,  changing  her  minis- 
ters (whose  advice  she  would  not  follow),  and  send- 
ing orders  to  the  army  commanders  disconcerting 
their  plans. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  explain  that  the  writer  of 
these  pages  has  not  the  presumption  either  to  ex- 
press, or  even  to  form,  an  opinion  on  such  a  mo- 
mentous subject.  The  Empress  acted  according  to 
her  views  and  convictions ;  it  is  for  others  to  judge 
whether  she  was  right  or  wrong.     Her  most  zealous 


222  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

partizans,  however,  reluctantly  admit  that  she  was 
mistaken  in  her  opposition  to  the  Emperor's  return, 
and  deplore  that  she  did  not  leave  the  responsibility 
of  such  a  decision  to  those  better  qualified  to  bear 
the  load. 

With  the  resignation  of  a  victim,  the  Emperor, 
though  disapproving  the  march  on  Sedan,  and  fore- 
seeing the  consequences,  yet  followed  the  army; 
having  reached  such  a  degree  of  suffering,  both 
physical  and  moral,  that  the  one  hope  left  to  him 
was  in  the  mercy  of  death  by  a  shot  on  the  field  of 
battle.  But  the  poor  young  Prince  Imperial,  whose 
health  had  completely  given  way,  imperatively  re- 
quired rest  and  care  which  he  could  not  have  in  a 
camp,  and  the  Emperor,  who  wished  to  spare  him 
the  sight  of  what  would  follow  according  to  his  pre- 
visions, sent  the  young  Prince  to  Mezieres,  promis- 
ing to  summon  him  to  Sedan. 

But,  after  several  contradictory  telegrams,  which 
drove  him  vainly  to  and  fro,  positive  orders  were  re- 
ceived to  cross  the  Belgian  frontier  at  once,  which 
was  effected  without  informing  the  Prince  of  the 
motives  for  this  determination,  or  even  where  the 
train  was  taking  him. 

On  the  frontier  the  dreadful  truth  was  revealed  to 
the  poor  boy,  who  had  struggled  so  hard  to  behave 
manfully  "  like  a  soldier  "  —  to  "  do  his  duty,"  as  his 
mother  had  said,  and  who  now  broke  down  com- 
pletely, like  the  child  he  really  was,  repeating  with 
bitter  tears  and  sobs :  "  My  poor  father !  Our  army  ! 
Poor  France  !  " 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  223 

He  was  taken  to  Naniur,  where  the  Prince  de  Chi- 
may,  governor  of  the  province,  received  him  with 
every  kindness  and  care  at  the  Chateau  de  Chimay. 

But  a  telegram  came,  signed  by  the  Emperor : 

"I  am  the  King  of  Prussia's  prisoner.  Take  the 
Prince  to  England." 

And  the  poor,  weary  boy,  crushed  and  heart- 
broken, set  off  again  for  Ostend,  whence  he  crossed 
over  to  Dover  and  Hastings,  where  he  met  his 
mother,  whom  he  had  left,  little  more  than  a  month 
before,  with  such  bright  hopes  of  glory — so  proud 
to  "  be  a  soldier  " —  so  anxious  to  "  do  his  duty " ! 


CHAPTER  XXI 

MacMahon  leads  the  army  to  Sedan  —  Despair  of  the  Emperor  — 
He  vainly  seeks  death  —  He  gives  up  his  sword  to  the  King  of 
Prussia  —  Telegram  to  the  Empress  —  Confusion  and  treachery 
around  her  —  The  Princess  Clotilde  comes  to  share  her  danger 
—  The  ambassadors  of  Austria  and  Italy  offer  their  protection  — 
She  goes  with  them,  f  oho  wed  only  by  Madame  Lebreton  —  The 
Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  left  to  their  fate  in  a  hackney- 


WHEN,  obeying  orders  from  the  Regency  in  Paris, 
MacMahon,  in  the  vain  hope  of  joining  Bazaine, 
turned  his  army  corps  toward  Sedan, —  a  town  situ- 
ated in  a  hollow  surrounded  by  hills, — the  unfortu- 
nate Emperor  clearly  foresaw  what  must  happen, 
and  in  his  despair  thought  only  of  seeking  death, 
yet  he  was  too  much  of  a  believer  to  commit  the 
crime  of  suicide. 

For  five  consecutive  hours  he  remained  in  the  sad- 
dle— an  effort  which,  under  the  circumstances,  the 
surgeons  who  attended  him  declared  to  have  been 
superhuman;  he  exposed  his  person  on  the  most 
dangerous  points,  where  he  repeatedly  went  forward 
alone,  with  shells  and  shot  falling  round  him,  hoping 
to  find  there  the  end  of  his  torture,  without  him- 
self destroying  his  own  life.    At  last,  unscarred,  but 

224 


RIIINs    01     THE    HAM.    OF    THE    MARSHALS,    CARYATIDES   0!     THE 
THRONE   <)N   THE   RIGHT. 


mOM    A    fni, 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  225 

having  reached  the  last  point  of  exhaustion,  annihi- 
lated by  pain  and  grief,  he  returned  to  the  town  of 
Sedan,  where  the  army  was  crowding  in  the  greatest 
confusion.  As  the  shells  fell  into  the  streets,  full  of 
wounded  and  fugitive  soldiers,  the  destruction  took 
the  proportions  of  a  massacre.  MacMahon  was  se- 
verely wounded,  and  unable  to  give  orders.  All  was 
confusion.  The  Emperor  then  ordered  the  white  flag 
to  be  hoisted  above  the  town.  It  was  not  imme- 
diately perceived,  and  the  firing  continued,  while  the 
Emperor,  in  a  state  of  prostration,  as  if  in  a  deliri- 
ous dream,  repeated :  "  They  are  still  firing  !  The 
cannon  !  The  cannon  !  It  must  be  stopped  !  It  must 
be  stopped ! " 

At  last  the  signal  was  noticed,  the  firing  was  in- 
terrupted, and  the  Emperor  sent  his  well-known 
message  to  the  King  of  Prussia : 

"Having  been  unable  to  meet  death  at  the  head 
of  my  troops,  I  give  up  my  sword  to  Your  Majesty." 

The  rest  is  too  well  known  to  need  description: 
The  personal  surrender  of  the  unfortunate  Emperor, 
the  pitiless  terms  of  the  conquering  Germans,  a 
whole  army  carried  off  as  prisoners. 

It  is  evident  that  if  the  Emperor  had  retained  any 
remnant  of  his  former  energies,  matters  would  never 
have  reached  such  a  disastrous  extremity,  and  that, 
like  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria  after  Solferino,  he 
would  have  sought  peace  before  that  time,  when  the 
exigencies  of  the  Germans  would  have  been  far  less 
heavy  than  thej^  proved  at  a  later  period,  after  the 

16 


226  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

insane  resistance  carried  on  by  Gambetta,  who  was 
so  generous  in  shedding  the  blood  of  others  (not 
even  his  countrymen,  for  he  was  a  Genoese),  driving 
the  French  like  a  flock  of  sheep  to  the  shambles. 

The  Empress  had  remained  at  the  Tuileries  in 
constant  consultation  with  the  ministers,  in  an 
agony  of  hope  and  fear,  but  still  preserving  delu- 
sions, still  believing  that  one  blow  struck  at  the 
proper  time  would  change  the  course  of  events. 
But,  day  by  day,  the  war  bulletins  became  more  ap- 
palling, till  at  last  a  telegram  was  given  to  her : 

"  The  army  is  vanquished,  and  in  captivity.  I  am 
myself  a  prisoner.  "  Napoleon." 

What  the  suffering  of  the  following  night  must 
have  been  to  the  Empress  is  beyond  imagination. 
Here  was  a  wife  and  mother  in  the  responsible  posi- 
tion of  Eegent,  left  to  face  the  hatred  of  an  exasper- 
ated mob,  who,  not  unjustly,  attributed  the  disas- 
trous war  to  her  influence.  She  had  said,  or  was 
believed  to  have  said,  "  This  is  my  war,"  and  those 
unfortunate  words  will  never  be  forgotten  or  for- 
given in  France.  The  constant  prosperity  of  the 
Empire  had  deluded  her  into  the  belief  that  it  would 
always  continue.  She  had  looked  forward  to  glory, 
to  increase  of  territory,  to  the  gratitude  of  the  na- 
tion ;  and  she  had  only  provoked  a  series  of  calami- 
ties such  as  the  French  had  never  yet  seen.  Now 
all  hope  was  gone ;  but  still  she  could  not  immedi- 
ately realize  the  consequences  of  the  Emperor's  po- 
sition, and  she  could  not  imagine  that  in  the  very 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  227 

presence  of  the  conquerors  the  nation  would  reject 
its  unhappy  sovereign.  Her  first  words  on  hearing 
the  terrible  news  had  been,  "  Do  not  think  of  me  — 
think  of  France";  but  France  and  the  Empire  still 
seemed  to  her  inseparable. 

During  the  whole  night  ministers,  senators,  politi- 
cians, and  deputies  were  coming  and  going,  to  and 
fro,  from  the  Tuileries.  All  was  confusion.  Some 
remained,  resting  as  they  could  in  arm-chairs  or  on 
sofas,  while  servants  brought  refreshments. 

The  Empress  refused  to  take  any  rest,  notwith- 
standing the  entreaties  of  her  attendants.  At  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  fatal  fourth  of  Septem- 
ber (Sunday)  she  heard  mass  in  her  private  oratory 
for  the  last  time,  and  then  received  the  ministers  and 
General  Trochu,  the  governor  of  Paris,  who  had  said 
to  her  :  "  Madame,  I  am  a  Catholic,  a  Breton — a  sol- 
dier— and  I  will  die  at  your  feet  sooner  than  harm 
shall  reach  you  ! " 

On  that  eventful  morning  he  seemed  still  devoted 
to  her,  and  discussed  the  measures  to  be  taken  for 
preserving  order  and  putting  down  any  insurrection, 
expressing  to  his  colleagues  the  greatest  admiration 
for  her  energy. 

A  few  hours  later,  General  Trochu  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Provisional  Government  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
while  the  Empress  Eugenie  was  left  to  her  fate.  And 
yet  the  man  was  not  a  traitor.  He  was  a  talker,  fond 
of  making  sonorous  speeches,  saying  more  than  he 
meant,  and  then  forgetting  what  he  had  said,  full  of 


228  LIFE  IN   THE  TUILERIES 

good  intentions,  but  also  full  of  vanity,  considering 
himself  indispensable  to  the  safety  of  the  nation,  and 
sincerely  convinced  that  all,  including  his  promised 
allegiance  to  the  Empress,  must  be  sacrificed  to  the 
general  good. 

Meanwhile,  the  progress  of  events  was  fearfully 
rapid.  Every  half-hour  brought  more  disastrous 
news.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  had  been  invaded 
by  the  mob ;  the  downfall  of  the  Empire  had  been 
decreed;  the  Republic  had  been  proclaimed.  The 
cries  of  the  popular  fury  were  heard  in  the  very  gar- 
dens of  the  Tuileries,  and  the  enraged  populace  was 
coming  nearer  and  nearer.  The  crowd  reached  the 
reserved  garden  in  front  of  the  palace,  and  tore  down 
the  emblematic  imperial  eagles.  It  was  then  a  quar- 
ter past  three  in  the  afternoon. 

The  Austrian  and  Italian  ambassadors,  who  were 
at  the  palace  (with  other  supposed  friends  of  the 
Empire,  and  some  sincere  adherents),  now  en- 
treated her  to  leave  the  dangerous  imperial  home, 
but  she  warmly  rejected  the  proposal.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  a  noble  race ;  the  heroic  blood  of  the 
Guzman s,  her  Spanish  ancestors,  flowed  in  her  veins ; 
and  she  could  not  but  consider  flight  as  an  act  of 
cowardice.  She  "  was  a  sentinel  left  to  defend  a 
post,  and  she  would  die  there." 

The  roar  of  the  mob  became  louder  and  louder,  the 
cries  of  "  Vive  la  Republique  ! "  were  distinctly  heard. 

"  Madame,"  then  said  the  prefect  of  police,  Pietri, 
"  by  remaining  here  you  will  cause  a  general  massa- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  229 

ere  of  all  your  attendants."  She  seemed  struck  by 
this,  and  turning  to  General  Mellinet,  she  said  :  "  Can 
you  defend  the  palace  without  bloodshed ! " 

"  Madame,  I  fear  that  it  would  be  impossible." 

"  Then  all  is  over,"  said  the  Empress.  She  turned 
to  those  present :  "  Gentlemen,  can  you  bear  me  wit- 
ness that  I  have  done  my  duty  to  the  last  ?  " 

They  hastily  answered,  "  Yes,"  still  urging  her  to 
leave  the  palace,  while  the  two  ambassadors  pro- 
tested that  if  she  would  go  with  them,  they  would 
answer  for  her  safety  under  their  protection.  As 
they  had  long  been  on  terms  of  friendship  with  her, 
and  had  always  made  great  demonstrations  of  per- 
sonal attachment,  the  Empress  trusted  them  without 
remembering  that  the  first  consideration  in  the  sight 
of  diplomatists  is  the  interest  of  their  respective 
courts. 

Let  me  hasten  to  add  that  her  ever-faithful  friend 
and  follower,  the  Due  de  Bassano,  was  not  there ; 
he  was  at  the  Senate-house  vainly  trying  to  stem  the 
flood.  Had  he  been  within  reach,  he  would  never 
have  left  her  to  the  exclusive  care  of  aliens,  however 
distinguished  in  rank  and  position.  The  Due  de 
Tascher,  who  was  so  completely  devoted  to  her  cause, 
and  who  would  have  been  able  to  make  his  voice 
heard  with  authority  in  any  presence,  had  died  two 
years  before,  and  no  one  present  dared  to  take  the 
lead  as  to  deciding  what  she  ought  to  do,  although 
the  rapidly  increasing  danger  of  her  situation  was 
evident  to  all. 


230  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

In  the  midst  of  this  agitation  and  perplexity  the 
Princess  Clotilde  appeared,  coming  from  the  Palais 
Royal,  with  her  usual  quiet  resolution,  prepared  to 
share  whatever  danger  might  threaten  the  Empress. 
The  latter  immediately  told  her  what  had  been  pro- 
posed, and  urged  her  not  to  remain  in  Paris.  After 
the  decision  of  the  Empress  had  been  made  known  to 
her,  the  Princess  Clotilde  retired,  and  prepared  for 
her  own  departure,  which  she  effected  in  royal 
fashion  with  all  her  accustomed  state,  and  without 
the  slightest  opposition  from  the  mob,  who  treated 
her  with  the  greatest  respect  as  she  passed,  perfectly 
calm  as  usual,  on  her  way  to  the  Lyons  station  in 
her  well-known  carriage. 

Meanwhile,  the  Empress  bade  farewell  to  all  her 
attendants  of  the  "service  d'honneur,"  who  were 
assembled  in  the  rose-colored  room — a  fairy  bower, 
ill  suited  as  a  frame  for  such  a  tragic  picture,  and 
which  she  was  never  to  see  again. 

No  one  knew  where  she  was  going — no  one  even 
inquired.  The  two  ladies  who  were  especially  "in 
waiting "  asked  if  they  were  to  follow  her,  but  she 
refused,  saying  that  she  would  involve  no  one  in  her 
evil  fortunes.  Some  writers  have  described  in  most 
romantic  fashion  these  last  scenes,  rei^resenting  the 
Empress  as  a  sort  of  tragic  queen,  surrounded  by 
weeping  and  devoted  attendants,  and  making  grand 
sonorous  speeches  to  her  ministers  and  ladies,  bid- 
ding them  farewell  in  the  style  of  the  final  scene  in 
Schiller's  "  Mary  Stuart."    The  Empress  was  brave 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  231 

and  resolute,  but  she  was  not  and  could  not  be  per- 
fectly calm  and  self-possessed  in  such  a  situation, 
with  danger  increasing  every  moment,  and  conflict- 
ing advice  all  around  her.  I  have  heard  the  Empress 
taxed  with  cowardice  for  her  flight.  But  the  bravest 
military  commanders,  who  fear  nothing  on  the  battle- 
field, shrink  from  falling  into  the  power  of  a  lawless 
mob.  The  Empress  had  been  warned  that  evils 
worse  than  death  awaited  her,  and  of  these  a  wo- 
man cannot,  and  ought  not,  to  accept  the  risk.  The 
Empress  had  lived  in  a  state  of  overwrought  nerves 
and  physical  fatigue  for  some  time ;  to  obtain  even  a 
little  sleep,  she  had  been  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
narcotics ;  she  had  not  even  gone  to  bed  on  the  pre- 
vious night,  and  had  hardly  tasted  food.  How  could 
she  be  calm  and  collected  under  such  circumstances  ? 
She  was  not  in  the  habit,  at  any  time,  of  indulging 
in  eloquent  speeches ;  she  often  expressed  romantic, 
rather  high-flown,  thoughts  or  maxims,  but  she  always 
spoke  in  short,  abrupt  sentences,  rather  disconnected, 
without  any  affectation. 

There  was  no  time  for  eloquence  on  this  occasion. 
She  says  herself  in  one  of  her  published  letters : 
"Trochu  forsook  me,  if  not  worse;  he  never  ap- 
peared at  the  Tuileries  after  the  Chamber  [of  Dep- 
uties] was  invaded  by  the  mob  any  more  than  the 
ministers,  with  the  exception  of  three,  who  urged 
me  to  leave." ' 

i  "Lc  <H'n<5ral  Troehu  m'a  abandonee,  n  ce  n'est  pvre  ;  il  n'a  jamais 
parti  aus  Tuileries  apres  lVnvaliissement  de  la  Chambre  pas  plua  que 

le  mini st ("to,  a  lVxcfption  <!<■  trois  ministres,  qui  out  insists  pour  n 

,1,'part." 


232  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

The  haste  of  her  departure  was  so  great  that  she 
had  not  even  time  to  finish  the  packing  of  a  small 
hand-bag  containing  a  few  necessaries,  which  was 
found  in  her  private  room  on  a  table,  half  filled  and 
left  open.  Two  of  her  ladies  hastily  assisted  her  to 
put  on  a  long  cloak,  a  close  bonnet,  and  a  thick  veil ; 
Madame  Canrobert  offered  her  carriage,  but  the  Em- 
press seemed  hardly  to  understand,  and  appeared  as 
if  dazed,  merely  bidding  a  hasty  good-by  to  all. 

All  present  were  bewildered  and  uncertain  as  to 
what  they  ought  to  do,  fully  supposing  that  under 
the  protection  of  the  two  ambassadors  she  would  be 
perfectly  safe,  and  so  accustomed  to  court  reticence 
and  submission  that  they  did  not  venture  to  oppose 
what  seemed  to  be  her  wishes,  or  to  ask  any  ques- 
tions as  to  her  intentions.  One  lady,  who  filled  a 
secondary,  though  confidential  post  in  the  house- 
hold— Madame  Lebreton  (sister  to  General  Bour- 
baki) — would  not  leave  her  unhappy  mistress,  and 
resolutely  followed  her  into  exile.  With  this  one 
faithful  attendant,  and  the  two  ambassadors,  the 
Empress  threaded  the  galleries  communicating  with 
the  Louvre,  while  the  mob  broke  into  the  Tuileries 
on  the  other  side.  There  was  a  door  of  communica- 
tion, which  was  found  locked,  and  for  one  brief 
moment  anxiety  was  intense;  happily,  the  key  was 
quickly  procured  through  a  faithful  servant,  and 
crossing  the  splendid  gallery  of  Apollo  in  the  Louvre, 
the  fugitives  made  their  way  into  the  place  opposite 
the  church  of  St.  Germain  l'Auxerrois. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  233 

Two  crowds  of  insurgents  were  corning  in  differ- 
ent directions ;  the  danger  was  great,  and  the  Aus- 
trian ambassador,  Prince  Metternich,  went  off  in 
haste  to  seek  his  carriage,  which  he  had  left  on  the 
quay  at  a  great  distance !  Meanwhile,  a  street  boy 
called  out,  "  There  is  the  Empress ! "  Much  alarmed, 
the  Italian  ambassador,  Chevalier  Nigra,  hastily 
thrust  the  Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  into  a 
hackney-cab,  called  to  the  coachman,  "  Boulevard 
Han ss mam 7,"  without  giving  any  number,  and  turned 
to  silence  the  boy.  The  driver,  frightened  at  the 
approach  of  the  mob,  drove  off  in  violent  haste,  and 
the  two  ambassadors  immediately  lost  sight  of  the 
vehicle. 

It  appears  now  to  be  certain,  from  state  papers 
recently  revealed,  that  treaties  of  alliance  had  been 
drawn  up  between  France,  Italy,  and  Austria.  The 
promised  aid  of  Italy  was  conditional  on  that  of 
Austria,  who  declared  herself  to  be  unable  to  finish 
preparations  before  September.  The  flight  of  the  Re- 
gent on  the  fourth  of  September,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  revolutionary  government,  at  once  released 
the  powers  from  promises  which  after  the  reverses 
of  the  French  became  particularly  inconvenient  to 
fulfil.  The  immense  interest  of  the  ambassadors  in 
getting  rid  of  the  Empress  is  evident;  but  in  any 
case  it  is  impossible  to  exonerate  them  from  the 
grossest  mismanagement,  if  not  cowardice,  or  even 
treachery. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Empress  applies  to  Dr.  Evans  in  her  distress  —  Leaves  Paris 
in  his  carriage  — A  perilous  journey  —  The  arrival  at  Trouville 
—  Sir  John  Burgoyne  and  his  sailing-yacht,  the  Gazelle  — 
Consents  to  take  the  Empress  over  to  England — A  perilous 
undertaking  —  Tremendous  storm  —  Safe  arrival  at  Ryde  — 
The  Empress  meets  her  son  at  Hastings  —  Hires  a  furnished 
country  house  at  Chiselhurst  —  The  Emperor  a  prisoner  at 
Wilhelmshohe  —  His  patience  and  kindness. 


THE  Empress  had  no  money  about  her,  and  when, 
on  reaching  a  quieter  region,  the  driver  asked 
where  he  was  to  take  her,  she  knew  not  whither  to 
go.  Several  calls  were  made  at  the  houses  of  friends ; 
none  were  at  home,  and  the  Empress,  utterly  ex- 
hausted and  not  knowing  where  to  find  a  refuge,  sud- 
denly remembered  that  Dr.  Evans,  the  well-known 
American  dentist,  lived  near,  and  to  him  she  went. 
Dr.  Evans  was  about  to  go  to  dinner,  and  at  first 
refused  to  see  the  unknown  lady  who  came  at  such 
an  unpropitious  time ;  but  as  she  insisted  upon  speak- 
ing to  him,  he  came  out,  and  was  struck  with  aston- 
ishment on  finding  himself  in  the  presence  of  the 
fugitive  Empress.  To  his  honor  be  it  said  that 
never  in  the  days  of  imperial  prosperity  could  she 
have  met  with  more  respect  or  more  devoted  zeal  in 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  235 

her  service  than  was  shown  on  this  occasion  by  Dr. 
Evans,  and  afterward  by  Mrs.  Evans,  who  was  at 
Tronville  for  sea-bathing,  and  consequently  could 
not  assist  her  husband  in  receiving  his  unexpected 
imperial  guest  in  Paris.  But  nothing  that  could  be 
done  for  her  comfort  was  neglected,  and  at  least  she 
felt  safe  in  the  shelter  of  the  American  home.  The 
most  important  question,  however,  still  remained  to 
be  settled  —  what  was  she  to  do,  and  where  was  she 
to  go? 

Dr.  Evans  was  inclined  to  advise  the  railway  to 
Belgium,1  which  she  could  have  reached  in  a  few 
hours,  but  the  Empress  was  convinced  that  she 
would  be  recognized  and  given  over  to  the  Kevolu- 
tionists ;  consequently,  after  much  discussion,  it  was 
settled  that  she  should  first  take  the  rest  so  sorely 
needed,  and  that  on  the  next  morning  she  and  her 
faithful  attendant  should  leave  Paris  with  Dr.  Evans 
in  his  carriage ;  then  with  the  help  of  hired  vehicles 
and  horses  they  would  contrive  to  reach  Trouville, 
where  they  would  find  Mrs.  Evans  and  her  hospi- 
table care,  while  Dr.  Evans  would  seek  means  to 
take  them  over  to  England. 

The  plan  was  full  of  peril  for  all  those  concerned, 
but  happily  it  was  carried  out  successfully. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  September,  the  Em- 
press with  Madame  Lebreton  and  Dr.  Evans,  in  his  car- 

1  The  new  Prefect  of  Police,  Comte  de  Keratry,  supposing  that  the 
Empress  would  choose  the  line  leading  to  Belgium,  had  sent  detectives 
to  protect  her;  so  that,  in  fact,  she  would  have  encountered  fur  less 
danger  than  in  her  long  journey  to  Trouville. 


236  LIFE  IN   THE   TUILERIES 

riage,  drove  to  the  Neuilly  gate  of  Paris,  not  without 
considerable  anxiety  as  to  the  possibility  of  passing 
through  without  recognition;  but  when  Dr.  Evans 
leaned  out  of  the  carriage,  speaking  with  an  unmis- 
takable Anglo-American  accent,  no  suspicion  was 
awakened,  and  they  passed  safely.  As  they  left 
Paris  the  Empress  wept  bitterly. 

A  fatiguing  journey  followed,  with  many  difficul- 
ties, changes  of  vehicles  and  horses,  and  fear  of  recog- 
nition in  the  towns  where  they  were  obliged  to  stop. 
It  is  stated  that  in  one  of  her  characteristic  moments 
of  impulse,  the  Empress,  seeing  a  policeman  ill  use  a 
man  in  the  street  at  Lisieux,  started  up  in  her  car- 
riage, forgetting  her  present  situation,  and  exclaimed: 
"  I  am  the  Empress,  and  I  command  you  to  let  that 
man  go."  Dr.  Evans,  naturally  much  alarmed,  drew 
her  back  to  her  seat,  and  explained  to  the  bystanders 
that  she  was  insane,  and  that  he  was  her  medical  at- 
tendant, taking  care  of  her,  with  the  assistance  of 
a  maid.  This  story  was  maintained  through  the 
journey,  also  at  the  hotel  of  Trouville,  where  he 
took  her  to  Mrs.  Evans,  who  had  furnished  apart- 
ments there.  But  it  is,  indeed,  wonderful  that  she 
was  not  recognized,  her  face  being  so  remarkable 
and  so  welhknown. 

The  fugitives  did  not  reach  Trouville-Deauville  till 
the  sixth  of  September  at  midday ;  and  Dr.  Evans  at 
once  began  to  seek  means  of  taking  the  Empress 
over  to  England.  A  small  sailing-yacht,  the  Gazelle, 
belonging  to  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  had  been  for  some 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  237 

days  lying  alongside  the  quay  of  Deauville, l  after 
cruising  along  the  coast;  and  the  weather  being 
very  stormy,  did  not  intend  to  leave  immediately. 
Dr.  Evans  went  on  board  with  his  nephew,  and 
sending  his  card  to  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  explained  to 
him  that  the  Empress  of  the  French  was  concealed 
in  the  town ;  that  she  was  in  trouble  and  danger ; 
begging  him  to  take  her  on  board  at  once.  Sir  John 
Burgoyne  was  at  first  incredulous,  but  on  referring  to 
Lady  Burgoyne,  who  knew  Dr.  Evans  well  by  name, 
he  consented  to  receive  the  lady  announced  as  the 
Empress,  on  condition  of  making  his  own  arrange- 
ments and  assuming  all  responsibility.  Dr.  Evans 
was  extremely  anxious  that  she  should  be  taken  on 
board  immediately,  fearing  not  only  for  the  Empress, 
but  also  serious  consequences  for  himself  if  he,  as  a 
foreigner,  liable  to  expulsion  at  any  time,  were  found 
in  the  act  of  aiding  the  Eegent  to  leave  the  country. 
Sir  John  Burgoyne  pointed  out  the  immense  danger 
of  embarking  the  Empress  in  broad  daylight,  espe- 
cially as  the  harbor  of  Deauville  was  tidal,  and  the 
yacht  could  not  leave  it  till  the  top  of  high  water. 
After  some  discussion,  it  was  settled  that  the  Em- 
]>n;ss  should  embark  at  midnight.  At  half-past 
eleven  a  police  agent  came  on  board  and  carefully 
examined  every  part  of  the  yacht,  at  last  leaving  it 
perfectly  satisfied  that  his  suspicions  were  ground- 
less. It  is  not  known  how  he  was  first  led  to  suppose 
that  the  Empress  might  be  there.   Sir  John  Burgoyne 

1  Deauville  and  Trouville  are  parts  of  the  same  town. 


238  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

appeared  perfectly  indifferent,  giving  him  every  facil- 
ity for  examining  the  vessel,  but  naturally  felt  much 
relieved  when  he  went  on  shore,  and,  after  watching 
his  proceedings  through  night-glasses,  and  seeing  him 
cross  the  bridge  leading  to  the  Trouville  side,  he  went 
onshore  himself  at  the  place  appointed  for  meeting  the 
Empress.  Soon  he  saw  two  ladies  walking  together, 
followed  by  a  gentleman  (the  nephew  of  Dr.  Evans) 
carrying  a  hand-bag  kindly  prepared  by  Mrs.  Evans, 
and  containing  traveling  necessaries.  One  of  the  la- 
dies immediately  accosted  him,  saying,  "I  believe  you 
are  the  English  gentleman  who  will  take  me  to  Eng- 
land. I  am  the  Empress,"  bursting  into  tears  as  she 
spoke.  Sir  John  Burgoyne  then  told  his  name,  and  of- 
feringhis  arm  led  her  on  board  the  yacht  Gazelle,  where 
Lady  Burgoyne  was  presented  to  her.  She  eagerly 
asked  for  news  of  the  Emperor  and  Prince  Imperial, 
and  begged  for  newspapers.  As  she  stepped  on 
board,  she  seemed  frightened,  but  on  receiving  the 
assurance  that  she  was  perfectly  safe,  she  replied 
gracefully :  "  I  am,  I  know,  safe  with  an  English  gen- 
tleman." She  spoke  English,  which  she  knew  well, 
and  often  used  in  conversing  with  the  Emperor,  when 
she  did  not  wish  to  be  understood  by  those  around 
her.  Her  pronunciation  of  that  language  was  per- 
haps less  foreign  than  her  French,  which  she  spoke 
with  a  marked  Spanish  accent. 

She  was  much  agitated  on  that  evening,  weeping 
frequently,  as  she  spoke  to  Lady  Burgoyne,  saying 
that  she  had  been  shamefully  deserted  at  theTuileries, 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  239 

that  her  very  servants  had  stolen  things  from  her 
private  apartments,  and  that  on  the  fourth  of  Septem- 
ber, the  day  of  her  flight,  she  could  not  even  get  her 
ordinary  servants  to  bring  her  breakfast,  and  her 
ladies  had  to  perform  menial  offices  to  help  her.  At 
the  same  time  she  showed  fortitude,  but  perhaps  more 
confidence  than  was  quite  justified  by  the  circum- 
stances, as  six  hours  must  elapse  before  the  water 
would  be  high  enough  for  the  yacht  to  leave  the  dock. 
Sir  John  Burgoyne  was  exceedingly  anxious,  and  in 
his  fear  of  attracting  attention  by  too  much  going  to 
and  fro,  he  desired  Dr.  Evans  and  his  nephew  to  re- 
main on  board.  There  was  great  noise  in  the  town, 
all  regular  government  having  ceased,  and  the  place 
being  full  of  drunken,  disorderly  mobiles,  whose  riot- 
ous appearance  alarmed  Sir  John  Burgoyne  so  much 
that  he  called  up  his  men,  told  them  who  was 
the  lady  whom  he  had  taken  on  board,  and  warned 
them  that  they  might  possibly  be  called  upon  to  de- 
fend the  Empress.  The  men  all  answered  that  they 
would  do  their  duty. 

Lady  Burgoyne  tried  to  persuade  the  Empress  to 
take  rest,  but  she  was  too  much  absorbed  in  her  news- 
papers, and  kept  herself  awake  by  drinking  coffee. 
When  the  time  came  for  leaving  the  harbor,  the 
weather  was  so  stormy  that  the  crew  became  anxious 
as  to  the  possibility  of  a  small  sailing-vessel  like  the 
(liLii-lfa  encountering  such  a  sea  without  perishing 
i  1 1  the  attempt  to  cross  the  Channel.  That  very  night 
the  six-gun  turret  ship  Captain,  of  the  British  navy, 


240  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

with  five  hundred  men  on  board,  commanded,  through 
a  curious  coincidence,  by  Captain  Hugh  Burgoyne, 
cousin  of  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  foundered  oft*  Cape 
Finisterre.  The  danger  was  great,  but  everything 
had  to  be  risked  under  such  circumstances,  and  at 
seven  in  the  morning  the  yacht  Gazelle  set  off  on 
her  adventurous  passage,  which  lasted  eighteen  hours. 

The  nephew  of  Dr.  Evans  went  on  shore  at  six 
o'clock,  but  the  latter,  although  he  would  have  been 
fully  justified  in  leaving  the  Empress  under  the  care 
of  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  and  although  well  aware  of 
the  danger,  determined  not  to  leave  her  till  she  had 
reached  English  soil,  bravely  risking  his  life  in  the 
attempt. 

Sir  John  Burgoyne  also  imperiled  the  life  of  his 
wife,  who  nobly  accepted  her  share  of  the  immense 
danger,  and  had  but  one  thought,  the  care  of  her  il- 
lustrious charge,  whom  she  encouraged  by  her  exam- 
ple, showing  no  sign  of  fear,  although  the  small  yacht 
shipped  heavy  seas  by  which  at  any  time  it  might 
have  been  swamped,  and  struggled  against  wind  and 
weather.  The  Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  both 
showed  calm  courage,  but  many  times  they  thought 
they  had  seen  their  last  of  land.  At  the  worst  of  the 
tempest,  when,  as  Madame  Lebreton  said,  "  Tout  cra- 
quait  autour  de  nous "  (Everything  seemed  to  give 
way  around  us),  the  Empress  remarked  that  the  storm 
in  Paris  had  been  worse  still. 

Sir  John  Burgoyne  remained  on  deck  the  whole 
time,  commanding  his  yacht  himself  with  able  sea- 


RUINS  OF  THE   VESTIBULE   OF   THE   Tl  ILERIES. 

,.    M    *    PHOTOGRAPH. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  241 

mauship,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
eighth  of  September  he  safely  brought  the  sturdy 
little  vessel  to  Ryde,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  they 
anchored.  At  three  o'clock  an  excellent  supper  was 
served  in  the  main  cabin,  where  the  Empress,  now 
relieved  from  present  anxiety,  joined  the  party  and 
was  very  cheerful.  Her  health  was  drunk  in  cham- 
pagne, for  which  she  returned  thanks,  expressing 
herself  hopefully ;  but  it  was  noticed  that,  now  she 
had  recovered  her  self-possession,  she  became  ex- 
tremely reticent  in  regard  to  political  subjects,  no 
longer  complaining  vehemently  of  those  who  had 
deserted  her,  or  entering  into  the  particulars  of  her 
grievances.  She  warmly  expressed  her  gratitude  to 
Sir  John  and  Lady  Burgoyne,  and  also  her  wish  to 
give  some  token  of  her  thanks  to  the  crew.  A  gold 
piece  of  twenty  francs  (four  dollars)  to  each  man 
being  considered  sufficient  by  those  around  her,  the 
men  were  summoned  to  the  cabin,  and  each  one  re- 
ceived his  gold  piece  from  the  hand  of  the  Empress, 
who  said  as  she  gave  it,  in  English,  "I  thank  you 
very  much."  They  were  all  delighted,  but  would 
not  spend  the  coins,  in  which  they  punched  holes  to 
wear  them  as  mementos. 

At  half-past  seven  the  Empress  landed  with  Sir 
John  Burgoyne,  after  her  soiled  traveling-clothes  had 
been  replaced  by  more  fitting  attire  supplied  by  Lady 
Burgoyne.  She  was  t.-tkoi  at  once  to  the  York  Hotel 
at  Ryde,  and  from  thence  went  over  to  Hastings, 
where  she  had  t lie  joy  of  meeting  the  Prince  Imperial. 

18 


242  LIFE  IN  THE   TUILERIES 

In  a  few  days  a  group  of  Bonapartists  formed  a 
small  court  around  her,  and  she  settled  at  Camden 
Place,  Chiselhurst,  in  a  furnished  country  house 
placed  at  her  disposal  at  a  nominal  rent  by  a  wealthy 
Englishman  named  Strode.  The  Emperor  was  a 
prisoner  at  Wilhelmshohe,  but  was  kindly  and  cour- 
teously treated.  He  was,  nevertheless,  heartbroken, 
thinking  only  of  the  sufferings  of  the  army,  to  whom 
he  sent  all  the  money  he  could  raise.  To  the  last 
the  poor  Emperor  was  generous  and  unselfish,  think- 
ing far  more  of  the  sufferings  endured  by  others  than 
of  his  own,  cruel  as  they  were.  Even  the  Germans 
around  him  were  completely  won  by  his  unvarying 
gentleness  and  patience,  with  the  kindness  ever  ready 
to  sympathize  with  all  their  own  concerns,  whether 
for  weal  or  for  woe. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  Emperor  in  England — Visit  of  Lord  Malinesbury  —  His  im- 
pression of  the  interview  —  The  Commune  in  Paris  — What  the 
leaders  really  were  —  Burning  of  the  Tuileries  —  How  effected. 

THERE  were  great  official  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  the  much-desired  visit  of  the  Empress  to 
Wilhelmshohe.  At  last,  however,  in  December  she 
determined  to  try  a  rapid  journey,  incognita,  with- 
out informing  any  one  of  her  intentions.  This  she 
managed  to  effect,  but  dared  not  take  the  Prince 
Imperial  with  her,  notwithstanding  his  entreaties. 
Her  arrival  at  "Wilhelmshohe  was  quite  unexpected 
by  the  Emperor,  who  received  her  with  a  joy  which 
he  was  obliged  to  conceal  so  as  not  to  betray  her 
identity.  They  were  able,  however,  to  converse 
together  alone,  and  both  derived  great  comfort 
from  the  short  meeting.  The  capitulation  of  Paris 
and  the  treaty  of  peace,  however,  soon  released  the 
imperial  prisoner,  who  then  joined  his  wife  and  son 
at  Chiselhurst. 

"We  must  again  quote  Lord  Malinesbury,  who,  as 
an  old  friend,  immediately  went  to  see  him: 

'•  After  a  few  minutes  he  came  into  the  room  alone, 
and  with  that  remarkable  smile  which  could  light  up 


248 


244  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

his  dark  countenance,  he  shook  me  heartily  by  the 
hand.  I  confess  that  I  never  was  more  moved.  His 
quiet  and  calm  dignity,  and  absence  of  all  nervous- 
ness and  irritability,  were  the  grandest  examples  of 
human  moral  courage  that  the  severest  stoic  could 
have  imagined. 

"  I  felt  overpowered  by  the  position.  All  the  past 
rushed  to  my  memory :  our  youth  together  at  Rome 
in  1829 ;  his  dreams  of  power  at  that  time ;  his  subse- 
quent efforts  to  obtain  it ;  his  prison,  where  I  found 
him  still  sanguine  and  unchanged ;  his  wonderful  es- 
cape from  Ham ;  and  his  residence  in  London,  where, 
in  the  riots  of  1848,  he  acted  the  special  constable 
like  any  Englishman ;  his  election  as  president  by 
millions  in  France  in  1850 ;  his  further  one  by  mil- 
lions to  the  imperial  crown ;  the  glory  of  his  reign  of 
twenty  years  over  France,  which  he  had  enriched 
beyond  belief,  and  adorned  beyond  all  other  countries 
and  capitals — all  these  memories  crowded  upon  me 
as  the  man  stood  before  me  whose  race  had  been  so 
successful  and  romantic,  now  without  a  crown,  with- 
out an  army,  without  a  country,  or  an  inch  of  ground 
which  he  could  call  his  own,  except  the  house  he 
hired  in  an  English  village. 

"  I  must  have  shown,  for  I  could  not  conceal,  what 
I  felt,  as,  again  shaking  my  hand,  he  said:  'A  la 
guerre,  comme  a  la  guerre. *  C'est  bien  bon  de  venir 
me  voir '  (It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  come  to  see  me). 

"  In  a  quiet,  natural  way  he  praised  the  kindness 

1 A  French  proverb,  meaning  that  we  must  bear  the  fortunes  of  war. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  245 

of  the  Germans  at  "Wilhelinshohe,  nor  did  a  single 
complaint  escape  him  during  our  conversation.  He 
said  he  had  been  trompe  (deceived)  as  to  the  force  and 
preparation  of  his  army,  but  without  mentioning 
names ;  nor  did  he  abuse  any  one  until  I  mentioned 
General  Trochu,  who  deserted  the  Empress  whom 
he  had  sworn  to  defend,  and  gave  Paris  up  to  the 
mob,  when  the  Emperor  remarked,  '  Ah  !  voila  un 
drole '  (There  is  a  villain).  During  half  an  hour  he 
conversed  with  me  as  calmly  as  in  the  best  days  of 
his  life.  .  .  .  When  I  saw  him  again  in  1872 
I  found  him  much  more  depressed  at  the  destruction 
of  Paris,  and  at  the  anarchy  prevailing  over  France, 
than  he  was  at  his  own  misfortunes ;  and  that  the 
Communists  should  have  committed  such  horrors  in 
the  presence  of  their  enemies,  the  Prussian  armies, 
appeared  to  him  the  very  acme  of  humiliation  and 
national  infamy." 

His  fate  is  now  deeply  regretted  by  the  French 
of  all  classes,  save  a  fraction  of  ardent  republicans. 
If  his  son  had  lived  he  would,  in  all  probability,  gov- 
ern France  at  the  present  time,  for  all  love  his  mem- 
ory, and  all  repeat  how  happy  was  the  time  of  the 
Second  Empire. 

The  horrors  of  the  siege  and  of  the  Commune  are 
not,  perhaps,  sufficiently  known  outside  of  France. 
They  have  been  described  by  enthusiastic  writers, 
taking  a  one-sided  view  of  the  terrible  subject,  and 
who  have  presented  a  totally  false  picture.  That 
among  the  Communists  were  many  sincere  and  well- 

16 


246  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

meaning  republicans,  who,  taking  an  imaginative 
view  of  events,  indulged  in  fanciful,  but  cherished  and 
honest  dreams,  is  undeniable.  It  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted that  in  the  frightful  reprisals  after  the  entry 
of  the  troops,  there  were  many  innocent  victims — 
poor  workmen,  especially — who  had  acted  perforce 
to  give  bread  to  their  families.  But  the  majority 
of  the  leaders  were  monsters,  whose  sole  object 
was  their  own  gain,  and  who  savagely  massacred 
what  stood  in  their  way,  with  deliberate,  merciless 
cruelty. 

Most  of  these  men  were  governed  by  the  mere  ha- 
tred of  what  was  above  them,  with  the  determina- 
tion to  enjoy  everything  which  others  had  enjoyed, 
and  to  destroy,  rather  than  lose,  what  they  had 
gained  by  robbery,  lest  others  should  obtain  the  ad- 
vantages which  they  now  possessed.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  can  be  no  matter  of  surprise  that 
the  last  days  of  the  Tuileries  were  at  hand.  Mean- 
while, the  sovereign  people,  proud  of  entering  the 
palace  of  kings,  went  there  for  dreary  fetes  during 
the  siege  and  the  Commune,  while  the  "Marseil- 
laise "  was  recited  by  the  tragic  actress  Mile.  Agar, 
and  a  virago  sang  a  street  song,  glorifying  la  canaille, 
"  C'est  la  canaille !  eh  bien,  j'en  suis,"  a  proposition 
that  none  felt  inclined  to  deny. 

But  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  was  soon  to  perish 
in  a  catastrophe  recalling  memories  of  Nineveh  and 
Babylon. 

Bergeret,  the  Communist  leader,  had  declared  that 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  247 

the  Tuileries  would  be  in  ashes  before  he  left  it,  aiid 
he  kept  his  word.  No  one  else  should  enjoy  what 
he  could  not  have.  On  May  21,  1871,  the  Ver- 
sailles troops  entered  Paris,  and  on  the  23d  Berge- 
ret,  in  a  war  council,  decreed  the  destruction  of  the 
palace.  In  this  dreadful  task  he  was  assisted  by  a 
butcher  named  Benot.  During  the  afternoon  of 
that  fatal  day  omnibuses  and  carts  loaded  with  gun- 
powder and  petroleum  repeatedly  crossed  the  court 
of  the  Louvre  and  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  while 
their  contents  were  thrown  into  the  central  pavilion 
of  the  Tuileries,  called  "Pavilion  de  l'Horloge." 
Benot  collected  petroleum  in  pails,  with  candles  and 
brushes,  and  led  his  associates  through  the  splendid 
galleries,  where  they  dashed  petroleum  over  the 
hangings,  the  floors,  walls,  and  doors.  Here  and 
there  they  placed  jars  of  petroleum,  a  barrel  of  gun- 
powder on  the  ground  floor,  and  a  heap  of  combusti- 
ble matter  in  the  magnificent "  Salle  des  Marechaux." 
All  was  connected  by  trains  of  gunpowder. 

When  all  was  ready,  with  the  delight  of  a  mad- 
man Benot  set  fire  to  the  building.  At  a  few  min- 
utes before  nine  the  great  clock  stopped,  under  the 
influence  of  the  fire.  At  ten  o'clock  the  conflagra- 
tion was  raging  in  all  its  fury,  while  Bergeret  and 
his  so-called  " officers"  went  quietly  to  dinner  at  the 
Louvre  barracks,  and  then  came  out  on  the  terrace 
to  enjoy  the  sight  of  their  fiendish  work. 

It  was  an  awful,  but  magnificent  spectacle.  At 
eleven  o'clock   there  was  a  terrific   explosion,   and 


24S  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

the  central  cupola,  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  Philibert  De- 
lorrne,  fell  in.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
Communists,  wishing  to  complete  their  work  of  de- 
struction, set  fire  to  the  priceless  library  of  the 
Louvre,  despite  the  entreaties  of  the  keepers,  who 
shed  tears  as  they  saw  treasures  impossible  to  re- 
place utterly  destroyed.  The  whole  building  was 
threatened  with  destruction,  including  the  picture- 
galleries  and  museums.  Happily,  MacMahon's 
troops  arrived  in  time  to  save  the  latter. 

But  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  was  a  mere  wreck, 
though  beautiful  still.  The  graceful  outlines  yet  re- 
mained; the  stones  were  not  blackened,  but  red- 
dened, by  the  flames,  and  seemed  to  bear  a  weird, 
lurid  glow.  The  fire  had  done  its  work  with  strange 
caprice;  here  and  there,  amid  the  crumbling  ruins, 
a  wooden  shutter  or  a  piece  of  drapery  had  escaped. 
The  hand  of  the  clock  dial  still  pointed  to  the  fatal 
hour.  Fragments  of  the  velvet  curtains  embroid- 
ered with  golden  bees  (the  imperial  emblem)  could 
still  be  seen  in  the  "  Salle  des  Marechaux,"  and 
also,  in  the  apartments  of  the  Empress,  the  crimson 
hangings  of  the  canopy  over  her  bed.  Nothing  but 
the  mere  front  of  the  building  remained,  however, 
in  any  shapely  form,  and  the  internal  destruction 
could  easily  be  discerned  from  the  exterior.  Still 
this  sad  memento  of  civil  war  and  savage  passions 
was  worthy  of  preservation;  it  was  beautiful  with 
the  sad  beauty  of  the  ruins  of  Heidelberg.  The  halo 
of  its  glorious  past  seemed  still  to  surround  it ;  but 


■' 


53 


W    ~ffW 


.. 


- 


■ 


r^jiw. 


THE   PAVILION    '  IF   1  LORA    Al  Tl  K    THE   FIR!  . 

rui  tun  conned  wing  ol  the  I  ouvre. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  249 

greater  than  its  beauty  was  the  lesson  it  conveyed 
of  the  consequences  of  revolutionary  anarchy. 

The  two  pavilions  at  the  extreme  ends  of  the 
building  have  been  restored:  the  Pavilion  de  Flore, 
looking  on  the  quay  and  the  Seine;  the  Pavilion 
Marsan,  looking  on  the  rue  de  Rivoli,  where  I  lived 
for  so  many  years !  This  has  been  entirely  rebuilt ; 
the  Pavilion  de  Flore  was  less  injured,  and  more 
easily  repaired. 

The  whole  of  the  central  part  of  the  building,  the 
chapel,  the  splendid  "  Salle  des  Marechaux,"  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Emperor,  Empress,  and  Prince  Impe- 
rial, have  been  entirely  pulled  down,  and  the  space 
on  which  they  stood  turned  into  a  garden. 

Flowers  now  bloom,  and  children  play,  on  the 
spot  where  Marie  Antoinette  shed  such  bitter  tears ; 
where  Madame  Elisabeth  tried  to  save  her  by  the 
sacrifice  of  her  own  life ;  where  Napoleon  I.  brought 
his  glory  and  his  imperial  crown ;  where  Josephine 
smiled  and  "won  hearts"  for  her  faithless  hero; 
the  palace  from  which  the  "  King  of  Rome  "  !  would 
not  go  when  his  mother,  Marie  Louise,  fled  before 
the  allies,  and  from  which  he  was  torn  by  force,  cry- 
ing, "  I  will  not  leave  my  palace  of  the  Tuileries ! " 2 
;i-  if  he  foresaw  he  would  never  see  it  again;  that 
palace  whence  two  other  monarchs  fled  in  succes- 
sion, swept  away  by  a  storm  of  revolution,  and 
where,  after  many  changes  and  reverses,  the  grand- 

1  Son  of  Napoleon  I.  and  Marie  Louise. 

-  The  I  I'rincesse)  Comtesse  de  Tascher  was  present  at  this  scene. 


250  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEEIES 

son  of  Josephine  reigned,  by  the  vote  of  the  nation, 
with  his  beantiful  consort,  during  a  period  of  splen- 
dor, glory,  and  prosperity  such  as  will  never  be  seen 
again. 

It  is  said  that  before  leaving  the  Tuileries,  the 
Empress  Eugenie  stood  for  a  moment  motionless, 
with  fixed  gaze,  repeating  as  if  unconsciously:  "A 
dream !    A  dream !    A  hollow  dream ! " 


CONCLUSION 

The  Empress  and  her  son  settle  at  Camden  Place,  Ckiselkurst  — 
The  Emperor  joins  them  after  the  peace  —  First  difficulties — 
Education  of  the  Prince  Imperial  —  Woolwich  —  Hopes  of  a 
restoration  of  the  Empire — Tke  Emperor's  health  —  His  un- 
expected death  —  The  Prince  receives  a  large  number  of  Im- 
perialists on  his  coming  of  age  —  Passes  his  examination  satis- 
factorily at  Woolwich  —  His  life  at  Chiselhurst  —  Difficidties  — 
Hopes  —  He  determines  to  join  the  English  army  in  South 
Africa — His  departure  —  His  reckless  bravery — He  is  killed 
in  a  reconnoissance  —  Particulars  of  his  death  —  Announce- 
ment of  the  news  to  the  Empress  —  Her  journey  to  Zululand  — 
Her  present  life. 


THE  residence  of  Camden  Place,  Chiselhurst,  had 
been  offered  to  the  Empress  Eugenie  as  a  loan, 
by  the  owner,  Mr.  Strode,  in  her  first  hour  of  dis- 
tressed perplexity  on  arriving  in  England  as  an 
exile.  The  Empress,  however,  insisted  on  paying 
rent;  and  after  some  discussion,  Mr.  Strode  having 
finally  accepted  a  nominal  sum,  the  Empress  and 
her  son  sorrowfully  took  possession  of  the  shelter  so 
quickly  and  providentially  placed  at  their  disposal. 
II'T'',  the  tutor  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  M.  Filon,  im- 
mediately joined  them,  and  the  young  Prince  re- 
sumed  his  studies  without  delay.  A  few  faithful 
followers,  with  members  of  the  imperial  family, 
hered  round  them,  while  the  Duchessede  Mouchy 

251 


252  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

(Princess  Anna  Mnrat)  supplied  the  unfortunate 
Empress  with  the  necessaries  of  which  she  was  com- 
pletely deprived,  having  nothing  but  what  Mrs. 
Evans  had  put  into  a  traveling-bag  for  her  use,  with 
the  dress  taken  from  Lady  Burgoyne's  wardrobe  to 
replace  the  travel-stained  garb  in  which  she  had  fled 
from  the  Tuileries.  The  revolutionary  government 
having,  however,  authorized  the  removal  of  her  per- 
sonal effects,  they  were  speedily  sent  to  her,  and  the 
strange  inconveniences  of  her  altered  position  ceased 
to  exist. 

The  Emperor,  being,  as  he  said,  determined  to 
share  the  fate  of  the  army,  refused  all  offers  of  lib- 
eration till  the  signature  of  the  treaty  of  Versailles, 
by  which  the  French  prisoners  were  released.  When 
they  were  free,  but  not  till  then,  the  Emperor  joined 
the  Empress  and  his  son  in  England,  where  he  was 
received,  even  by  the  people,  with  great  warmth  and 
sympathy. 

But  the  question  of  how  they  were  to  live  was 
now  the  problem  to  be  solved.  The  Emperor  was 
proud  to  declare  that  all  he  had  received  from 
France  had  returned  to  France,  and  that  he  had 
taken  nothing  with  him.  After  Sedan,  and  during 
his  imprisonment  at  Wilhelmshohe,  all  the  money 
in  his  possession,  or  that  he  was  able  to  raise  by 
personal  sacrifice,  had  been  sent  for  the  relief  of 
the  war-prisoners  in  Germany ;  he  had  nothing  left. 
And  this  was  fully  characteristic  of  his  nature  from 
his  earliest  years.    When  a  prisoner  at  Ham,  during 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  253 

the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe,  horse  exercise  had  been 
ordered,  medically,  as  necessary  for  his  health ;  and 
although  it  could  only  be  taken  on  the  ramparts  of 
the  fortress,  he  greatly  enjoyed  this  one  resource 
of  recreation.  And  yet  he  sold  his  horse  to  re- 
lieve the  distress  prevalent  in  the  country  around 
him.1 

In  the  same  spirit  he  gave  all  he  had  to  relieve  the 
sufferings  of  the  captive  army.  If  he  had  not,  from 
time  to  time,  purchased  land  for  the  purpose  of 
agricultural  experiments,  and  model  farms,  etc.,  he 
would  have  been  penniless ;  but  this  private  prop- 
erty, originally  bought  for  philanthropic  purposes, 
was  now  sold,  and  brought  him  the  small  fortune 
which  we  have  before  mentioned  as  having  been 
sworn,  on  the  Emperor's  demise,  in  the  Probate 
Court,  as  under  £120,000.2 

The  straits  from  which  he  suffered  at  first  were 
painfully  depicted  in  a  letter  from  Torquay,  where 
he  had  been  sent  by  his  medical  advisers  in  the 
hope  that  a  milder  climate  might  relieve  the  suffer- 
ings which  had  been  greatly  increased  by  the  in- 
tense cold  of  Wilhelmshohe.  The  Emperor  stated 
that  he  had  found  benefit  from  the  change, — that 
h<-  would  willingly  remain  longer;  "but  hotels  are 
dear,  and   1  must  go  back  to  Chiselhurst." 

The  Empress  had  considerable  property  in  Spain, 
and  went  over  to  her  native  land  in  order  to  effect 
the  sale  of  her  estates.    The  Emperor  wrote  to  her: 

i  See  "Napoleon  III.  [ntime,"  by  Fernand  GKrandeau.    -  [bid. 


254  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

"It  is,  no  doubt,  very  painful  to  part  with  what 
has  belonged  to  your  family  for  so  long  a  time ;  but 
it  is  for  the  sake  of  our  son's  future." * 

Immense  sums  of  money  had  been  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Emperor,  who  had  never  thought  of  his  own 
interests.  The  horrors  of  the  Commune,  and  the 
anarchy  in  France,  affected  him  far  more  than  his 
own  misfortunes;  but  they  raised  hopes  of  a  reac- 
tion in  his  favor,  which  he  valued  for  his  son's  sake. 
These  were  encouraged  by  the  reports  of  his  few 
faithful  followers  —  how  few,  alas!  for  the  honor 
of  human  nature ! 

It  is  certainly  true  —  and  all  those  who  were  in 
France  at  that  time  can  bear  witness  —  that,  not- 
withstanding the  reverses  of  the  Empire,  what  had 
followed  was  so  horrible  that  regret  for  past  peace 
and  prosperity  was  really  awakened ;  there  was  now 
a  strong  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  Emperor,  and 
especially  for  the  Prince  Imperial  —  the  "Petit 
Prince,"  whom  all  remembered  with  fond  affection 
—  the  "Son  of  France." 

Beyond  a  small  minority,  no  one  cared  for  the 
Comte  de  Chambord ;  and  the  large  sum  claimed 
by  the  Orleans  princes  as  restitution,  at  the  time 
when  the  coffers  of  the  State  were  empty,  and  the 
nation  was  crushed  by  the  terrible  war-forfeit  to 
Germany,  had  caused  a  general  feeling  of  exaspera- 
tion against  them,  which  had  greatly  damaged  their 
cause. 

1  Fernaiid  Giraudeau. 


UNDER   THE   SECOND   EMPIRE  255 

The  confiscation  of  the  property  of  the  Orleans 
family  was  certainly  the  least  justifiable  act  of  the 
Emperor's  reign,  and  was  so  completely  in  contra- 
diction to  his  generous  nature  and  magnanimous 
spirit  that  it  is  impossible  not  to  believe  that  it 
was  suggested,  and  finally  enforced,  by  unscrupulous 
advisers  or  too  recklessly  devoted  partizans.  But 
the  time  chosen  by  the  Orleans  princes  for  putting- 
forward  their  just  claims  was  most  inopportune,  and 
was  universally  resented. 

Notwithstanding  the  symptoms  of  a  Bonapartist 
reaction,  the  time  had  not  yet  come  when  a  "  return 
from  Elba"  could  be  risked;  and  the  Emperor's 
greatest  present  care  was  the  education  of  his  son, 
superintended  by  himself,  with  the  Prince's  tutor, 
and  the  assistance  of  professors.  The  Emperor 
personally  undertook  to  teach  his  son  modern  his- 
tory compared  with  that  of  past  times;  and  in  long 
conversations  he  strove  to  develop  his  judgment, 
and  to  initiate  hi  in  in  political  questions  concern- 
ing the  government  of  nations. 

The  Emperor  no  longer  spoiled  "Loulou,"  al- 
though, as  ever,  he  was  the  kindest,  the  most  affec- 
tionate of  fathers  —  the  friend  and  guide  of  his  son, 
who,  matured  by  adversity,  now  studied  assiduously 
from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  the  same 
hour  in  thf  evening,  with  no  other  interruption 
than  was  necessary  for  the  ddjewner,  and  two  hours 
devoted  to  dorse  exercise.  The  whole  imperial  party 
lived  at  Chiselhursl    in   complete  retirement,  with 


256  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILEKIES 

only  a  few  faithful  attendants,  who  formed  a  small 
court  around  them,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the 
Due  de  Bassano,  who  had  immediately  followed  the 
Empress  after  her  flight,  and  a  few  servants,  most 
of  whom  had  come  from  the  Tuileries. 

The  Emperor,  however,  soon  felt  that  a  more  com- 
plete and  more  official  course  of  instruction  would 
be  necessary  for  his  son ;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
objection  that  an  English  military  school  would  be 
unwelcome  to  his  French  supporters,  having  none 
other  within  his  reach,  he  applied  to  the  Queen  of 
England  for  permission  to  send  the  Prince  Imperial 
to  the  Royal  Academy  at  Woolwich.  The  Queen  not 
only  heartily  gave  the  necessary  authorization,  but 
offered  to  dispense  with  the  preliminary  examina- 
tion. To  this,  however,  the  young  Prince  would  not 
consent;  and  never  did  he  accept  any  indulgence 
throughout  the  course  of  studies,  although  it  is  easy 
to  understand  that  he  labored  under  unusual  dis- 
advantages, having  had  only  foreign  methods  and 
training,  which  differ  from  what  is  usual  in  England. 

In  October,  1871 — scarcely  more  than  a  year  since 
his  father's  surrender  at  Sedan,  and  his  mother's 
flight  from  the  palace  of  his  birth  —  after  satisfac- 
torily passing  the  usual  examination,  the  Prince  Im- 
perial was  admitted  into  the  Royal  Academy  at  Wool- 
wich, with  his  young  friend,  Louis  Conneau.  Both 
had  this  explanatory  note  affixed  to  their  names : 

"  Not  as  commissioned  cadets,  but  as  being  author- 
ized to  follow  the  course  of  studies  with  the  cadets." 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  257 

The  Prince  would  accept  no  favor  of  any  kind, 
and  in  every  respect  was  treated  like  his  comrades. 

In  an  interesting  book  by  the  Comte  d'Herisson, 
"  Le  Prince  Imperial,"  he  describes  a  visit  to  Wool- 
wich after  the  death  of  the  poor  young  Prince,  and 
a  conversation  with  General  Simmons,  who  com- 
manded the  military  school  during  his  stay  there. 
General  Simmons  spoke  of  him  with  the  highest  es- 
teem and  great  affection.  He  explained  to  the  Comte 
d'Herisson  the  impossibility  of  showing  any  favor 
to  a  cadet  in  the  examinations.  The  questions  are 
prepared  and  sealed  at  the  War  Office.  The  cadets 
do  not  know  beforehand  the  questions  which  will 
fall  to  them,  and  the  examiners  are  equally  igno- 
rant of  the  authorship  of  the  answers,  which  bear  no 
signature,  and  are  only  marked  by  chance  numbers. 

The  young  Prince  liked  his  new  life  at  Woolwich, 
and  according  to  universal  testimony  he  won  the 
good-will  and  esteem  of  all  his  English  comrades. 

Meanwhile,  the  chances  of  a  Bonapartist  restora- 
tion seemed  to  be  ripening.  An  explanatory  pam- 
phlet on  the  war  of  1870,  published  under  the  name  of 
the  Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  but  really  written  by  the 
Emperor  himself,  had  been  much  discussed  by  the 
press,  and  had  produced  a  general  and  strong  im- 
pression. The  former  partizans  of  the  Empire  now 
raised  their  heads  and  drew  around  the  Emperor, 
offering  their  services.  The  Comte  de  la  Chapelle 
(who  assisted  the  exiled  sovereign  in  his  desk-labors, 
and  acted  as  his  emissary  in  many  political  matters) 

17 


258  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

succeeded  in  winning  over  other  adherents ;  so  that 
soon  the  Emperor  felt  that  he  was  supported  by  a 
powerful  political  party,  able  to  lead  on  the  masses, 
where  there  might  be  hesitation,  but  no  hostility. 
A  plan  of  action  was  carefully  prepared,  and  the 
success  of  an  appeal  to  the  nation  seemed  more  than 
probable. 

But  the  Emperor's  health  did  not  admit  of  the 
vigorous  personal  direction  and  cooperation  which 
were  necessary  under  such  circumstances,  and  in 
the  interest  of  his  son,  for  whom  he  was  ready  to 
make  any  sacrifice,  the  Emperor  consented  to  un- 
dergo the  operation  which  was  fated  to  have  such  a 
dire  result.  Although  he  had  a  nervous  dread  of 
the  pain  in  prospect,  he  seems  to  have  been  kept  in 
ignorance  of  the  extent  of  the  danger  he  had  to  en- 
counter, and  of  which  the  Prince  Imperial,  espe- 
cially, had  no  definite  appreciation.  He  knew  that 
his  father  had  a  serious  internal  malady,  which  pre- 
vented him  from  sharing  his  son's  rides  on  horse- 
back ;  the  Prince  knew  also  that  surgical  means  had 
been  considered  necessary,  but  he  was  deceived  by 
the  perfect  calmness  of  the  Emperor,  who  showed 
no  apprehension,  and  he  did  not  foresee  even  the 
possibility  of  the  calamity  which  was  soon  to  befall 
him. 

" Dans  tin  mois — a  cheval!"  (A  month  hence — 
to  horse !)  said  the  Emperor,  cheerfully,  to  the 
Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  only  a  few  days  before  his 
death. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  259 

The  operation,  which  was  performed  by  the  slow 
and  gradual  process,  was  endured  by  the  Emperor, 
several  times,  with  perfect  success.  A  letter  from 
the  Emperor's  French  physician,  Baron  Corvisart, 
quoted  by  the  Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  dated  January 
11,  1873,  was  full  of  satisfaction  for  the  present,  and 
hope  for  the  future.     He  says  : 

"  The  Emperor  has  dined ;  he  has  no  fever ;  all  is 
going  on  as  well  as  we  could  wish." 

Sir  Henry  Thompson,  the  operating  surgeon,  had 
again  successfully  performed  two  operations,  and 
the  thirteenth  of  January  was  appointed  for  the  final 
ordeal ;  but  the  condition  of  the  Emperor  seemed  so 
favorable  that  the  presence  of  the  Prince  Imperial 
was  considered  unnecessary,  and  on  the  twelfth  he 
returned  to  Woolwich,  little  dreaming  that  he  would 
never  again  see  his  father  alive. 

The  prominent  English  physician  who  principally 
attended  on  this  occasion  (while  Sir  Henry  Thomp- 
son's care  was  purely  surgical)  had  ordered  a 
draught,  prepared  with  chloral,  to  be  taken  on  the 
evening  of  the  twelfth  of  January.  The  Emperor  ab- 
solutely refused  to  take  it,  saying  that  the  draught 
had  thrown  him  into  a  distressing  state  of  prostra- 
tion on  the  previous  night,  that  he  felt  no  pain,  and 
that,  should  it  return,  he  would  infinitely  prefer  to 
endure  it  rather  than  take  the  chloral. 

But  the  order  of  the  attending  physician  was 
stringent;  the  Empress  was  called,  and  her  en- 
treaties  induced   the   Emperor   to    take   the  dose. 


260  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

The  chloral  was  taken  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing ;  the  Emperor  fell  into  a  deep  sleep,  from  which 
he  only  momentarily  awakened  at  ten  o'clock  on 
the  following  morning;  but  he  was  then,  evidently, 
fast  sinking.1  He  uttered  a  few  unintelligible  words, 
and  as  the  Empress  anxiously  bent  over  him  he 
made  a  motion  as  if  to  kiss  her,  and  immediately 
expired. 

The  grief  and  consternation  of  all  around  him  were 
indescribable.  The  Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  from  whose 
narrative  we  borrow  these  particulars,  states  that 
he  arrived  at  Chiselhurst  on  that  very  morning, 
and  was  present  at  a  sharp  altercation  between  Sir 
Henry  Thompson  and  the  attending  physician,  on 
the  subject  of  the  dose  of  chloral.  There  was,  un- 
happily, nothing  to  be  done,  and  consequently  the 
matter  was  hushed  up. 

The  Comte  Clary  had  immediately  set  off  to  bring 
the  Prince  Imperial,  when  the  first  alarming  symp- 
toms appeared,  but  of  course  all  was  over  long  be- 
fore he  could  reach  Chiselhurst.  The  Empress  went 
to  meet  him,  and  her  first  sobbing  words,  as  she  em- 
braced him:  "My  poor  Louis,  you  are  all  I  have 
left ! "  contained  the  first  positive  assurance  that  all 
was  indeed  over;  that  his  beloved  father,  his  best 
friend,  had  been  taken  from  him. 

The  poor  boy  sobbed  as  if  his  heart  would  break 

1  The  writer  begs  to  leave  the  full  responsibility  of  this  narrative, 
and  its  conclusions,  to  the  Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  not  having  the  pre- 
sumption to  form  a  personal  opinion. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  261 

as  he  embraced  the  lifeless  form;  but  after  a  par- 
oxysm of  grief,  by  a  truly  Christian  and  affecting 
impulse,  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and  repeated  aloud  the 
Lord's  prayer. 

At  the  solemn  funeral  of  Napoleon  III.  the  de- 
meanor of  the  young  heir  of  the  Bonapartes  awoke 
sympathy  from  all  in  the  immense  concourse  of 
French,  belonging  to  all  classes,  who  came  to  offer 
a  last  mark  of  respect  to  their  late  sovereign.  In  an 
interesting  paper  on  the  Prince  Imperial,  published 
in  the  "  Century  Magazine  "  for  June,  1893,  Mr.  Archi- 
bald Forbes  thus  describes  the  scene : 

"  I  never  saw  dignity  and  self-control  more  finely 
manifested  in  union,  than  when  the  lad,  not  yet 
seventeen,  dressed  in  a  black  cloak,  over  which  was 
the  broad  red  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  fol- 
lowed his  father  as  chief  mourner  along  the  path 
lined  by  many  thousand  French  sympathizers ;  and 
his  demeanor  was  truly  royal,  when,  later  on  that 
trying  day,  the  masses  of  French  artisans  hailed 
him  with  shouts  of  'Vive  Napoleon  IV.!' — and  he 
stopped  the  personal  ovation  by  saying:  '  My  friends, 
I  thank  you,  but  your  Emperor  is  dead.  Let  us 
join  in  the  cry  of  "  Vive  la  France," '  baring  at  the 
same  time  his  head,  and  leading  off  the  acclamation." 

The  best  proof  of  the  Emperor's  unconsciousness 
of  his  own  danger  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  no 
will  was  discovered  of  more  recent  date  than  one 
written  in  18G5,  five  years  before  the  fall  of  the  Em- 
pire, in  which  he  left  everything  that  he  possessed 

17* 


262  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

as  private  property  to  the  Empress,  evidently  sup- 
posing that  his  son  would  be  his  successor  on  the 
throne  of  France.  It  cannot  be  admitted  that  under 
such  altered  circumstances  he  would  not  have  other- 
wise provided  for  his  son,  had  he  foreseen  the  possi- 
bility of  a  fatal  issue  to  the  operation. 

The  Empress  was  sole  guardian  of  her  son;  for 
Prince  Napoleon,  who,  according  to  the  French  law, 
as  the  nearest  relative,  should  have  represented  the 
paternal  line  in  watching  over  the  interests  of  the 
young  Prince,  characteristically  refused  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  him,  and  left  England  immediately 
after  the  funeral  of  the  Emperor. 

The  young  Prince  then  returned  to  Woolwich, 
where  he  studied  assiduously,  feeling  that  he  was 
obeying  the  wishes  of  his  father,  for  whose  loss  he 
could  not  be  comforted. 

A  year  later,  having  reached  his  legal  majority  of 
eighteen  years,  he  received  the  deputations  from 
the  different  provinces  of  France,  each  deputation 
headed  by  a  leader,  bearing  the  provincial  banner. 
More  than  ten  thousand  Frenchmen  of  every  class 
had  gathered  at  Chiselhurst,  led  by  sixty-five  pre- 
fects of  the  Empire,  many  members  of  the  National 
Assembly,  and  twelve  former  ministers.  A  tre- 
mendous shout  of  "  Vive  l'Empereur ! "  greeted  the 
young  heir  as  he  appeared,  with  his  mother  by  his 
side,  surrounded  by  the  leading  Bonapartist  states- 
men, and  the  representatives  of  the  highest  classes 
of  Imperialists  during  the  Empire.    After  the  ad- 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  263 

dress  of  the  Due  de  Padoue,  expressing  the  faith  of 
those  around  him  in  the  future  of  the  dynasty 
chosen  by  the  nation,  and  bidding  him  to  be  pre- 
pared for  what  might,  providentially,  be  in  store  for 
him,  the  young  Prince,  with  a  dignity  and  simplicity 
which  greatly  impressed  all  present,  thanked  them 
in  the  name  of  his  father,  recalling  his  principles 
and  his  teaching;  he  referred  to  the  will  of  the 
nation,  which  should  rise  above  all  political  parties, 
in  the  choice  of  what  would  best  secure  the  public 
good ;  he  alluded  to  his  own  youth  with  great  mod- 
esty, and  concluded  with  the  following  declaration : 
"  When  the  hour  has  come,  if  another  government 
should  be  preferred  by  the  majority  of  the  nation,  I 
will  bow  respectfully  to  the  decision  of  the  country ; 
but  if  the  name  of  Napoleon,  for  the  eighth  time, 
should  be  chosen  by  the  people,  I  am  ready  to  ac- 
cept the  responsibility  imposed  upon  me  by  the  vote 
of  the  nation." 

The  enthusiasm  aroused  by  this  simple,  manly 
speech  spread  far  and  wide. 

The  young  Prince  still  required  ten  months  of 
study  to  finish  the  course  of  instruction  begun  at 
Woolwich.  Many  of  his  advisers  thought  that, 
having  taken  the  position  of  a  Pretender,  there 
would  be  some  loss  of  dignity  in  returning  even  to 
a  military  school ;  but  he  was  extremely  anxious  to 
pass  his  final  examinations,  and  it  was  settled  that 
he  should  resume  his  studies.  How  thoroughly  he 
worked  to  carry  out  his  father's  views  in  sending 


264  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

him  to  Woolwich  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  before-mentioned  dis- 
advantages under  which  he  labored,  he  had  been 
twenty-second  in  a  class  of  thirty-five  during  the 
year  1873  ;  but  when  he  left  the  Royal  Academy  in 
1875,  he  had  outstripped  his  competitors,  and  now 
held  the  position  of  seventh  among  thirty-five,  with 
the  option,  had  he  entered  the  Queen's  service,  of 
choosing  between  the  engineers  and  artillery. 

On  his  return  to  Chiselhurst  he  became  the  offi- 
cial representative  of  the  Bonapartist  cause,  but 
was,  nevertheless,  condemned  to  lead  a  life  which 
could  only  be  most  irksome  to  a  young  man. 

The  Empress  necessarily  lived  in  retirement,  and, 
like  many  other  mothers,  she  did  not  sufficiently 
understand  the  craving  for  independence  felt  at  the 
time  of  the  approach  to  man's  estate  by  all  youths 
of  any  spirit.  To  the  Empress  he  was  still  the  child 
for  whom  strict  discipline  was  necessary.  Her  po- 
sition gave  her  complete  control  over  him;  and, 
with  the  idea  of  preserving  him  from  the  dangers 
of  his  age  and  rank,  she  fully  exercised  that  control. 
She  feared  for  him  the  example  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  and  the  young  men  of  his  court;  she  feared 
the  treacherous  allurements  of  French  adventurers 
with  wonderful  plans  for  bringing  about  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Empire;  she  feared  the  habits  of  the 
rich  young  English  noblemen  with  whom  he  must 
associate;  and,  to  guard  against  all  these  evils,  she 
gave  him  as  little  money  as  possible.    A  small  al- 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  265 

lowance  for  mere  pocket-money  was  all  that  was 
granted  to  him,  the  Empress  repeating  in  answer 
to  all  remonstrances:  "Let  him  ask  me  for  what 
he  wants,  and  he  shall  have  it."  But  what  spirited 
lad  of  his  age  would  submit  to  the  necessity  of 
always  applying  to  his  mother,  and  explaining  his 
wishes  —  especially  in  a  country  where  the  "  apron- 
string"  is  always  mentioned  with  contempt?  The 
Prince  was  a  dutiful  son,  and  did  not  rebel  against 
his  mother's  will;  but  all  agree  in  saying  that  he 
suffered  acutely  from  the  straits  in  which  he  was 
kept,  and  the  humiliation  of  appearing  as  a  pauper 
among  the  wealthy.  A  story  is  told  by  the  Comte 
d'Herisson  of  a  dinner  given  by  the  Prince  at  St. 
James's  Hotel,  Piccadilly,  to  Count  Schouvaloff,  and 
to  which  he  had  invited  General  Fleury.  The  latter 
had  brought  with  him  Arthur  Meyer,  a  young  jour- 
nalist, now  editor  of  the  "  Gaulois  "  newspaper.  This 
was  unforeseen  by  the  poor  young  Prince,  whose 
supply  of  money  had  been  reckoned  so  closely  that 
when  the  bill  had  to  be  paid  he  was  thirty  shillings 
short,  and  was  forced  to  borrow  from  General  Fleury. 
The  humiliation  of  such  a  necessity  in  the  position 
of  the  young  Prince  will  be  understood  by  all.  An- 
other anecdote  is  related  of  a  conversation  with  his 
former  equerry,  Bachon,  who,  considering  that  the 
horse  used  by  the  Prince  Imperial  was  not  worthy 
of  his  rider,  proposed  to  him  another,  costing  six 
thousand  francs  ($1200).  The  Prince  replied  that 
he  had  not  the  money  at  his  disposal;   on  which 


266  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

Bachon  immediately  offered  to  speak  to  the  Em- 
press, and  lay  the  matter  before  her.  The  Prince 
quickly  and  decidedly  forbade  him  to  ask  her  for 
anything.  An  explanation  followed;  after  which 
honest  Bachon,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  declared  that 
his  Prince  should  have  a  suitable  horse,  and  that 
he  would  pay  for  it  himself  by  selling  a  small  vine- 
yard that  he  possessed.  The  Prince  was  much  af- 
fected, but  of  course  prevented  the  sacrifice  of  the 
vineyard. 

In  his  will  he  left  an  annuity  of  five  thousand 
francs  ($1000)  to  his  faithful  Bachon. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  on  both  sides  with  re- 
gard to  these  delicate  matters.  The  young  Prince 
was  deprived  of  his  natural  guide  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  and  at  the  same  time  was  raised  to  a 
particularly  prominent  and  dangerous  position  at 
a  too  early  age.  His  mother  was  certainly  justified 
in  fearing  that  he  might  be  led  into  many  errors. 
It  is  not  easy  under  such  circumstances  to  judge 
exactly  how  far  it  is  wise  to  loosen  the  grasp  of  the 
reins.  The  Empress  Eugenie  held  them  with  a  firm 
hand.  She  feared  the  naivete — what  has  been  called 
"  childishness  " —  of  some  points  noticed  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  young  Prince ;  and  she  did  not  under- 
stand that  incessant  dictation,  incessant  control, 
incessant  watchfulness,  would  not  tend  to  develop 
those  qualities  of  determination  in  authority,  and 
others  necessary  for  a  ruler  of  men.  He  was  imagi- 
native like  his  mother:  "  full  of  delusions,"  as  Maxime 


UNDER   THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  267 

Du  Camp  (the  well-known  writer  of  the  "  Revue  des 
Deux-Mondes  ")  described  him  to  me  after  a  visit  to 
Chiselhurst;  although  he  admired  his  character  in 
every  respect,  and  repeated:  "II  est  tres  bien.vl 

But  the  Prince  was  scarcely  allowed  to  have  an 
independent  opinion,  and  was  guided  by  others  in 
all  things. 

He  soon  longed  for  emancipation.  There  was 
some  question  of  a  journey  round  the  world,  but 
various  difficulties  caused  this  plan  to  be  given  up. 
He  traveled  to  Italy  with  his  mother;  to  Sweden 
with  the  Comte  Murat  and  his  mother's  devoted  sec- 
retary, Franceschini  Pietri.  Wherever  he  went  he 
gained  the  good  will  and  esteem  of  all  who  were 
in  contact  with  him.  "When  he  returned  to  the 
weary  home  at  Chiselhurst  he  mixed  in  London 
society ;  but  all  this  could  not  satisfy  his  yearning 
for  decided  action  —  his  earnest  wish  to  show  him- 
self the  worthy  representative  of  an  illustrious  name. 
Surely  such  feelings  are  high  and  noble,  and  should 
not  be  stigmatized  as  "  ostentation,"  or  else  all  the 
chivalry  of  past  days  must  be  open  to  the  same 
accusation.  He  wished  to  show  that  he  was  not  a 
mere  carpet-knight,  but  a  soldier  in  earnest,  ready 
to  "  do  his  duty "  fearlessly.  But  how,  in  his  situ- 
ation, could  he  get  an  opportunity  of  revealing  the 
"  sacred  fire  "  that  burned  in  his  veins  ?  He  applied 
to  the  French  government  for  permission  to  join 

1  In  French  the  praise  is  higher  than  could  be  expressed  by  a  literal 
translation,  and  signifies:  "He  is  everything  that  he  should  bo." 


268  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

the  troops  fighting  in  Tonqnin,  but  was  refused; 
and  meanwhile  the  sneers  and  ridicule  heaped  upon 
him  by  adverse  French  newspapers  stung  him  to 
the  quick.  Nothing  seemed  open  to  him  till  the 
disaster  of  Isandlwana,  and  the  hurried  departure 
of  English  troops  to  retrieve  the  reverses  in  Zulu- 
land.  Here,  then,  was  the  opportunity  for  which  he 
had  longed.  His  comrades  of  Woolwich  were  going 
—  they  would  be  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  savage 
warfare;  and  he  would  not  be  a  soldier  of  mere 
parade.  He  would  share  their  peril,  and  would  show 
his  gratitude  to  the  Queen  of  England  by  fighting 
under  her  flag.  He  did  not  stop  to  consider  whe- 
ther he  would  there  be  in  the  place  belonging  to  a 
Bonaparte.  He  forgot  the  rancor  of  former  times 
in  present  dreams  of  glory,  and  perhaps  other  "  de- 
lusions" added  to  those  already  noted  by  Maxime 
Du  Camp.  The  purpose,  attributed  by  Mr.  Forbes 
to  the  English  court,  of  promoting  the  overthrow 
of  the  French  Republic  by  giving  the  Prince  an 
opportunity  to  distinguish  himself  is,  according  to 
my  belief,  a  complete  mistake.  There  is  no  more 
truth  in  the  statement  that  there  was  a  "project 
of  marriage"  between  the  Prince  Imperial  and  a 
daughter  of  the  Queen  of  England.  There  was,  in 
fact,  a  youthful  and  delusive  romance,  but  which 
no  one  contemplated  seriously.  The  Queen,  who 
had  prevented  the  marriage  of  her  niece  1  with  Na- 
poleon III.,  then  at  the  zenith  of  prosperity,  on  the 

1  Princess  Adelaide  of  Hohenlohe.    See  Memoirs  of  Lord  Malmesbury. 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  269 

ground  of  insecurity  and  difference  of  religious  faith, 
would  not  be  likely  to  unite  her  favorite  daughter 
to  the  precarious  fate  of  the  exiled  Prince  Imperial. 

That  the  Queen  encouraged  his  wish  to  join  the 
South  African  expedition  is  really  true ;  but  it  may 
well  be  supposed  that  both  the  royal  mother  and 
the  Prince  of  Wales  —  who  did  not  foresee  the  too 
sad  consequences  of  the  consent  given — were  glad 
to  welcome  a  natural  interruption  to  a  youthful 
love-story,  which  could  not  be  taken  into  practical 
consideration.  The  sorrow,  not  unmixed  with  self- 
reproach,  felt  by  the  kind-hearted  Queen,  after  the 
catastrophe,  is  well  known.  The  ill-feeling,  alluded 
to  by  Mr.  Forbes,  on  the  part  of  the  French  nation 
toward  England  since  that  time,  is  founded  on  the 
lamentable  desertion  of  the  young  Prince,  which 
caused  his  untimely  fate,  and  not  on  any  suspicion 
of  a  conspiracy  or  intrigue  against  the  French  Ee- 
public,  every  one  being  well  aware  that  the  part 
played  by  the  English  government  in  such  matters 
has  invariably  been  strictly  neutral. 

The  young  Prince  told  no  one  of  his  plans  till 
they  were  definitely  settled,  and  the  earnest  opposi- 
tion of  his  friends  and  advisers  could  no  longer  pre- 
vail. The  Empress  herself  knew  nothing  of  his 
intentions  till  they  were  irrevocable.  Several  of 
the  young  Imperialists,  who  had  been  his  personal 
friends,  asked  to  follow  him,  and  to  form  a  sort  of 
guard  of  honor  around  him.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
the  English  government  would  have  consented  to 


270  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

such  an  arrangement,  but  the  proposal  was  never 
submitted  to  their  examination,  being,  at  once,  char- 
acteristically rejected  by  the  Empress,  who  replied : 
"  My  son  goes  as  a  soldier,  and  must  share  the  fate 
of  other  soldiers,  with  equal  protection,  but  no 
more." 

On  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  Chiselhurst,  the 
young  Prince  summoned  the  domestic  servants  of 
the  household  around  him,  saying  that  before  he 
left  the  country,  for  a  long  and  perilous  voyage,  he 
wished  to  thank  them  for  their  services,  and  shake 
hands  with  them. 

All  shed  tears,  but  they  afterward  remembered 
with  renewed  sadness  how  bright  and  hopeful  he 
seemed,  as  he  shook  hands  with  each  in  turn,  bid- 
ding them  a  hearty  and  friendly  farewell. 

The  hurry  of  departure  did  not  lead  him  to  forget 
the  duties  incumbent  upon  all  Catholics  when  about 
to  encounter  perilous  adventures;  and  at  an  early 
hour  in  the  morning  he  was  seen  running  across  the 
fields,  to  the  Catholic  chapel  of  Chiselhurst  —  the 
same  where  his  remains  were  laid  when  brought 
back  to  England. 

The  rest  of  the  sad  tale  is  well  known.  His  ar- 
rival in  South  Africa  —  especially  intrusted  to  the 
care  of  Lord  Chelmsford  by  the  Commander-in- 
chief,  the  Duke  of  Cambridge;  his  appointment  on 
the  staff;  his  reckless  bravery  and  love  of  enter- 
prise, which  led  him  several  times  into  considerable 
danger,  and  which  induced  Lord  Chelmsford  to  give 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  271 

Colonel  Harrison  a  written  order  that  "the  Prince 
should  not  quit  the  camp  without  a  written  permis- 
sion from  his  lordship?  says  Mr.  Forbes;  who  ad- 
mits that  "the  military  arrangements  were  lax," 
which  is  the  sole  possible  explanation  for  the  fact 
that,  notwithstanding  this  prohibition,  Colonel  Har- 
rison allowed  him  to  go  on  the  fatal  reconnaissance 
with  Lieutenant  Carey.  There  seems  to  have  been 
the  grossest  mismanagement  throughout.  No  one 
appears  to  have  clearly  understood  who  was  to  com- 
mand the  expedition,  Carey  repudiating  all  responsi- 
bility, while  Colonel  Harrison  maintained  that  he 
had  intrusted  the  command  of  the  escort  to  Carey. 
So  far  as  it  is  possible  to  extract  the  truth  from  con- 
flicting testimony,  it  would  seem  that  Carey  had  the 
real  command,  but,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  left  to 
the  Prince  the  mere  utterance  of  the  orders,  which 
came  from  himself.  An  escort  of  six  white  men  and 
six  Basutos  had  been  requisitioned;  but  the  latter 
never  joined  the  party,  thus  reduced  to  the  Prince, 
Lieutenant  Carey,  a  sergeant,  a  corporal,  four  troop- 
ers, and  a  black  native  guide,  nine  persons  in  all. 

The  rest  of  the  sad  story  may  be  briefly  summed 
up,  the  facts  being  generally  known :  the  imprudent 
sense  of  security  of  all  the  party,  till  the  sudden  sur- 
prise by  the  Zulus,  before  they  had  time  to  obey  the 
order  to  mount ;  and  the  mad  panic  which  caused  a 
general  flight,  headed  by  Carey.  It  is  best  here  to 
transcribe  the  graphic  account  given  by  Mr.  Forbes : 

"  As  to  the  Prince,  the  testimony  is  fairly  unani- 


272  LIFE   IN   THE   TUILERIES 

hious.  Sergeant  Cochrane  stated  that  he  never  ac- 
tually mounted,  but  had  foot  in  stirrup,  when,  at  the 
Zulu  volley,  his  horse,  a  spirited  gray,  sixteen  hands 
high,  and  always  difficult  to  mount,  started  off,  pres- 
ently broke  away,  and  later  was  caught  by  the  sur- 
vivors. Then  the  Prince  tried  to  escape  on  foot, 
and  was  last  seen  by  Cochrane  running  into  the 
donga  [ravine],  from  which  he  never  emerged.  .  .  . 
The  most  detailed  evidence  was  given  by  trooper 
Lecocq,  a  Channel  islander.  The  Prince  was  unable 
to  mount  his  impatient  horse,  scared  as  it  was  by 
the  fire.  One  by  one  the  troopers  galloped  by  the 
Prince,  who,  as  he  ran  alongside  his  now  maddened 
horse,  was  endeavoring  in  vain  to  mount." 

And  not  one  of  these. men  gave  him  a  helping  hand 
to  hold  the  horse  one  moment,  which  would  have  en- 
abled such  a  perfect  horseman  to  vault  into  the  saddle. 

Mr.  Forbes  continues :  "  The  Prince  was  left  alone 
to  his  fate.  The  horse  strained  after  that  of  Lecocq, 
who  then  saw  the  doomed  Prince  holding  his  stir- 
rup-leather in  one  hand,  grasping  reins  and  pommel 
with  the  other,  and  trying  to  remount  on  the  run. 
No  doubt  he  made  one  desperate  effort,  trusting  to 
the  strength  of  his  grasp  on  the  band  of  leather 
crossing  the  pommel  from  holster  to  holster.  That 
band  tore  under  the  strain.  I  inspected  it  next  day, 
and  found  it  no  leather  at  all,  but  paper-faced  —  so 
that  the  Prince's  fate  was  really  attributable  to 
shoddy  saddlery.  Lecocq  saw  the  Prince  fall  back- 
ward, and  his  horse  tread  on  him  and  then  gallop 


■L 

111 


THE    PRINCE    IMPKRIAL,   IN    ARTILLERY    UNIFORM. 


FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  Br  THE  LONDON  STEREOSCOPIC  CO, 


UNDER  THE   SECOND  EMPIRE  273 

away.  According  to  him,  the  Prince  regained  his 
feet,  and  ran  at  full  speed  toward  the  donga,  on  the 
track  of  the  retreating  party.  When,  for  the  last 
time,  the  Jerseyman  turned  round  in  the  saddle,  he 
saw  the  Prince  still  running,  pursued  only  a  few 
yards  behind  by  some  twelve  or  fourteen  Zulus,  as- 
segais in  hand,  which  they  were  throwing  at  him. 
None  save  the  slayers  saw  the  tragedy  enacted  in 
the  donga." 

When  the  Empress  Eugenie  went  to  see  the  spot 
where  her  gallant  son  had  met  his  fate,  the  Zulus 
who  had  attacked  him  were  discovered  and  ques- 
tioned ;  they  all  said  that  when  he  saw  he  was  for- 
saken and  could  not  escape,  "  he  turned  on  us  like  a 
young  lion,"  and  made  a  desperate  defense.  The 
body  when  found  had  seventeen  wounds,  one  in 
the  right  eye,  from  an  assegai,  which  the  surgeons 
deemed  was  the  first  received,  and  immediately  fatal. 
Let  us  hope  that  their  appreciation  is  justified ;  but 
others  stated  that  the  wounds  in  the  left  arm  seemed 
to  have  been  received  while  holding  it  as  a  shield 
before  his  face.  Mr.  Forbes  (an  eye-witness  of  the 
scene)  thus  describes  the  finding  of  the  body : 

"He  was  lying  on  his  back.  His  head  was  so 
bent  to  the  right,  that  the  cheek  touched  the  sward. 
His  hacked  arms  were  lightly  crossed  over  his  lacer- 
ated chest,  and  his  face,  the  features  of  which  were 
nowise  distorted,  but  wore  a  faint  smile  that  slightly 
parted  the  lips,  was  marred  by  the  destruction  of  the 
right  eye  from  an  assegai  stab." 

18 


274  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

He  adds :  "  His  wounds  bled  afresh  as  we  moved 
hiin.  Round  the  poor  Prince's  neck  his  slayers  had 
left  a  little  gold  chain,  on  which  were  strung  a  locket 
set  with  a  miniature  of  his  mother,  and  a  reliquary 
containing  a  fragment  of  the  true  cross  which  was 
given  by  Pope  Leo  III.  to  Charlemagne  when  he 
crowned  that  great  prince  emperor  of  the  West,  and 
which  dynasty  after  dynasty  of  French  monarchs 
had  since  worn  as  a  talisman." 

The  body  was  taken  back  to  the  camp,  wrapped  in 
a  cloak  and  placed  on  the  lance-shafts  of  the  cavalry- 
men ;  and  after  embalmment,  such  as  could  be  prac- 
tised under  the  circumstances,  and  a  solemn  funeral 
service  in  the  camp,  the  homeward  journey  began, 
which  was  to  be  principally  effected  on  board  of  the 
Orontes,  whence  the  bier  was  transferred  at  Spithead 
to  the  Admiralty-yacht  Enchantress,  which  carried  it 
to  Woolwich,  where  funeral  honors  began. 

Immediately  after  the  catastrophe  the  Queen  was 
informed  by  telegram  sent  to  Balmoral,  and  she 
at  once  set  off  on  her  return  journey  to  Wind- 
sor. By  order  of  the  Queen,  Lord  Sidney  went  to 
Chiselhurst  to  inform  the  French  suite  of  the  ter- 
rible news,  and  to  urge  them  to  prepare  the  Empress 
for  a  calamity  which  might  be  too  suddenly  revealed 
by  some  accidental  circumstance.  But  no  one  could 
summon  courage  to  inflict  such  a  blow.  The  Due  de 
Bassano,1  overpowered  by  his  own  personal  grief  — 

1  The  following  particulars  were  related  to  the  writer  by  the  Due  de 
Bassano  himself. 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  275 

for  he  was  deeply  attached  to  the  poor  young  Prince 
—  implored  Madame  Lebreton  to  break  the  news  to 
the  bereaved  mother.  "  You  are  a  woman :  you  will 
know  better  what  to  say  to  her  —  how  to  prepare 
and  to  comfort  her."  But  Madame  Lebreton  vehe- 
mently retorted,  "I  should  drop  down  dead  in  her 
presence  before  I  could  utter  the  words ! " 

Meanwhile,  the  Empress  seems  to  have  heard 
vaguely  that  a  telegram  had  been  received  addressed 
to  her  secretary,  Pietri,  who  was  absent ;  and  during 
the  before-mentioned  discussion  she  sent  for  the  Due 
de  Bassano,  who  had  no  choice  left  but  to  obey  the 
summons. 

"  Bassano,"  said  the  Empress,  "  what  is  this  about 
a  telegram  received?  Have  you  news  from  Zulu- 
land?" 

"Yes,  Madame,"  answered  the  Duke  mournfully, 
"and  the  news  received — is  not  good." 

"What?  Is  my  son  ill?"  asked  the  Empress 
eagerly. 

"There  has  been  an  engagement,"  faltered  the 
Duke. 

"  Is  Louis  wounded  ? " 

"Yes." 

"  We  must  go  to  him  directly,"  cried  the  Empress, 
starting  up.  "Preparations  must  be  made  imme- 
diately ;  we  must  go  up  to  London  and  embark  for 
the  Cape.    Give  orders  at  once,  my  dear  Duke ! " 

"But,  Madame,  how  are  we  to  embark?  Ships 
do  not  leave  every  day  for  the  Cape." 


276  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

"Oh,  we  shall  find  means  —  we  can  hire  one  if 
necessary." 

"But  such  arrangements  would  require  time — ■ 
and  —  your  Majesty  ivould  arrive  too  late." 

The  Empress  turned  and  looked  full  in  the  Duke's 
face,  down  which  tears  were  flowing.  She  uttered 
a  cry,  and  fell  as  if  stricken  by  a  thunderbolt;  he 
was  just  in  time  to  receive  her  in  his  arms. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  tone  of  anguish  in  which 
the  Due  de  Bassano  said,  when  relating  the  above : 

"I  had  rather  be  shot  any  day  than  go  through 
such  a  scene  again." 

The  crushing  grief  of  the  unfortunate  mother  was 
continually  revived  during  the  torturing  weeks  pre- 
ceding the  arrival  of  her  son's  remains  by  receiving 
his  letters,  sent  by  the  mails  before  the  telegram 
announcing  the  catastrophe.  She  could  not  open 
them  till  some  time  had  elapsed.  The  last,  written 
in  pencil,  was  dated  on  June  1st,  immediately  before 
starting  on  the  fatal  reconnaissance. 

The  contrast  between  the  bright  and  joyous  tone 
of  these  letters  and  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  received  was  heartbreaking  to  the  mother 
when,  at  last,  she  opened  these  messages  from  the 
dead. 

The  magnificence  of  the  funeral  need  not  be  de- 
scribed. It  was  a  poor  atonement;  but  such  as  it 
was,  the  English  nation  could  offer  no  more,  and 
their  sympathy  was  heartily  given.  The  Queen  and 
Princess  Beatrice  wept  "  so  bitterly  that  they  could 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  277 

hardly  stand,"  was  the  expression  nsed  by  the  Dnc 
de  Bassano.  All  France  had  sent  deputations  with 
funeral  wreaths,  and  Englishmen  of  all  ranks  at- 
tended in  crowds.  The  only  person  present  who 
preserved  his  composure  was  Prince  Napoleon,  who 
refused  to  see  the  Empress  after  the  ceremony,  and 
immediately  left  England  for  Paris. 

It  is  known  that  the  Empress  has  now  left  Chisel- 
hurst,  where  all  the  recollections  awakened  were  too 
painful,  and  is  settled  at  Farnborough,  not  far  from 
Windsor,  where  she  finds  comfort  in  the  sympathy 
and  friendship  of  the  Queen.  The  remains  of  her 
husband  and  son  have  been  transferred  to  Farn- 
borough. She  lives  in  retirement  with  Madame 
Lebreton,  her  secretary,  Pietri,  and  one  or  two  other 
faithful  followers.  The  Due  de  Bassano,  having 
reached  a  very  advanced  age,  is  now  replaced  in  his 
official  capacity  by  his  son,  the  Marquis  de  Bassano, 
who  accompanied  the  Empress  in  her  sad  pilgrim- 
age to  the  spot  where  her  son  fell  so  gallantly,  and 
where  she  seemed  to  find  a  sort  of  consolation  in 
gathering  every  detail,  every  testimony,  which  could 
still  further  honor  his  memory. 

No  one  seems  to  be  exactly  acquainted  with  her 
present  financial  position ;  but  judging  from  appear- 
ances it  may  be  supposed  to  be  one  of  liberal  comfort. 
The  sale  of  her  private  jewels  produced  a  large 
sum,  and  her  own  fortune  is  considerable.  Her 
residence  at  Farnborough  is  handsome  and  well  ar- 
ranged ;  she  has,  also,  a  villa  near  Mentone,  which 


278  LIFE  IN  THE  TUILERIES 

is  described  as  a  paradise,  where  she  seeks  a  refuge 
from  English  winters.  But  the  life  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie  is  ended.  After  having  known  the  most 
exceptional  prosperity  ever  granted  to  any  woman, 
she  remains  alone  and  almost  forgotten,  save  by  a 
few  faithful  friends  —  having  lost  all  that  she  prized 
as  an  Empress,  all  that  she  loved  as  a  woman. 
What  is  left  to  her  can  scarcely  be  valued  or  en- 
joyed after  such  reverses. 

Some  of  those  who  wish  her  well  regret  that  she 
should  have  chosen  to  live  on  French  ground  in  her 
southern  home ;  and  still  more  that  she  should  now 
reappear  in  Paris,  where  once  she  reigned  supreme, 
in  a  hired  dwelling  opposite  to  the  vacant  spot 
where  the  Tuileries  once  stood.  This  regret  is  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that  she  is  not  popular  in 
France,  and  that  the  part  she  played  during  the 
Empire  is  judged  with  unjust  malevolence. 

Eugenie  de  Montijo  was  raised  to  an  unnatural 
elevation,  for  which  nothing  in  her  past  life  or  edu- 
cation had  prepared  her;  and  if  all  circumstances 
be  considered,  it  must  be  allowed  by  all  who  are 
not  blinded  by  prejudice  that  few  women  could  have 
gone  through  such  an  ordeal  without  having  more 
cause  for  self-reproach.  A  woman  so  beautiful,  so 
nattered,  so  admired,  and  so  deeply  wounded  by  her 
husband's  errors,  who  yet  never  fell  from  her  high 
estate,  notwithstanding  every  temptation;  one  so 
spoiled  by  fortune  as  to  be  able  to  indulge  in  every 
caprice,  and  who  was  ever  kind  and  charitable ;  who, 


UNDER  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE  279 

after  being  betrayed  and  deserted  by  those  whom 
she  trusted,  has  no  unkind  word  for  the  traitors, 
nor  has  ever  sought  for  revenge ;  whose  errors  were 
those  of  a  high  and  noble  nature,  ill  regulated  by 
defective  guidance,  but  not  the  less  real  —  such  a 
woman  deserves  respect  in  the  present  and  indul- 
gence for  the  past. 

She  was  dazzled  by  the  splendor  of  her  exalted 
position;  for  a  time  she  thought  only  of  pleasure 
and  enjoyment,  but  no  bad  act  can  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  Empress  Eugenie.  Her  faults  were 
trifles  in  themselves,  and  became  important  only  in 
consequence  of  the  obligations  of  a  situation  which 
she  never  completely  understood. 

She  has  now  suffered  the  deepest  sorrow ;  she  has 
lost  all  for  which  she  was  so  much  envied.  Let  us 
hope  that  her  last  years  may  be  spent  in  peace. 


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